


Weakness in Love

by boredom



Series: BWNSG [8]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Adoptive Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-09-14 20:50:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16920159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boredom/pseuds/boredom
Summary: When given the option to see your family again, to save them from their fate, to give them all the love you failed to give them before, would you take it? Would you do anything to see and love and save them?The Paladins of Voltron have this option, and Shiro is desperate to keep them from their loved ones.





	1. Katie Holt

**Author's Note:**

> So I’m starting off by saying that there will be trigger warnings in this story. I don’t want to tag them yet because I don’t want to give anything away, but always reread the tags to ensure your safety.

It had been a whirlwind of a few weeks, really, a few months if Pidge were to think about it. First there was the whole ‘aliens actually exist and we want YOU to fly a sentient robot lion that combines into a bigger robot to fight them’ thing. Then there was the whole ‘psych! Turns out the man you’ve been looking up to is actually a clone and the real Shiro has been a space bum for the past six years with an equally feral half-human, half giant purple space cat furry as his brother’ thing. And while she was getting used to those two things, Thace and Allura were pushing them with training constantly and Zarkon did not seem to understand the concept of taking a break. She wasn’t one to normally sleep, but tonight she was looking forward to collapsing in her bed and recovering from a particularly hard drill Thace had put them through earlier. 

But first she was going to do a quick search to see if anything had come up about her family. She missed them so much and feared that they were… no, no, she wasn’t going to think like that. They were alive and she would find them. 

When she did find Matt and her dad, they might scold her for doing something so dangerous, her dad because it was his duty as a parent, and Matt because he always wanted to be in a Mecha Anime and now Pidge was living out his shameful fantasy. Then they’d defeat Zarkon and go home to her mother and their dog and everything would be back to normal. 

They were alive. 

She was almost done working through a particularly tricky set of codes and the halls had long been quiet (though Shiro was still wandering around). After their discussion on siblings and all the good and bad that came with them, everyone had been withdrawn. It was nice to talk with others about her family, but it did bring up some emotions that she had done her best to hide and forget. It did, however, spark a renewed sense of purpose in her and she pushed through to find new information. 

However, even the brilliant Pidge Gunderson (AKA Katie Holt) couldn’t ignore bodily functions forever. Her eyes were starting to close more than they were open and she was slumping more and more against the wall. She felt the Green Lion in the back of her head, begging her to get some sleep. Such a mother hen.

“Just a few more minutes.” She yawned. Her eyes slipped closed again. 

“Katie?” 

They snapped open. That sounded like… no, it couldn’t be. 

“Katie!” 

“Matt?” She sat up, and looked around. No answer. “I must be more tired than I thought.” She reluctantly closed the laptop and stretched. It was nice to hear his voice again. Maybe if she actually dreamed tonight he would be there and they can talk like they had for the past few nights.

“Katie, wait, don’t go yet! I’m almost there.” 

She felt her breathing pick up and she looked around. It sounded so real, but Matt, he wasn’t here. He couldn’t be. There were alarms around the Castle and they would have been alerted if someone had gotten in or had tried to contact them. 

She turned and let out a scream when she saw her brother in front of her. He was wearing the space suit the Garrison had put him in before launch. It looked ridiculous now that she had seen how advanced the Galra and Altean suits were. He looked solid, though. She could reach out and touch him and her hand wouldn’t go through. Maybe she had fallen asleep and this was a dream. She pinched herself and felt pain (though this did bring up the question as to whether or not the whole pinching thing worked).

“Is this really you? It’s not--it’s not a trick?” She took a step forward and then paused. Maybe she should go get someone. Haggar could play tricks on them and if this was the case, then they might be in danger. 

Matt laughed. “Yeah, yeah, it’s really me.” His eyes were shiny with tears as he studied her. “I’m not really here, though, it’s some sort of soul transfer? I don’t know, I don’t really understand it.” 

Pidge was still a little skeptical. It was too good to be true. “If you’re the real Matt, then what’s my favorite band?” 

He smiled at her. “Good thinking. The Galra are a tricky bunch. Well, the last time I saw you it was Five Finger Death Punch. Mom always hated when you listened to that.” He shook his head and wiped some tears away. “The singing always scared me, but I did take you to that one concert.” 

“It really is you!” Pidge ran forward, crying with relief. All this time searching and she had finally found her brother. 

“Woah, you can’t hug me, Katie!” Matt cried, waving his arms. 

Pidge skidded to a stop. “What do you mean? Why not?” 

“I’m not really here. I mean, I am, mentally, but I don’t have a physical body. You’d go crashing to the floor.” 

“Oh, right.” Pidge really wanted to hug her brother. “You look solid though.” She wanted to feel him and make sure that he was really there.

“Yeah, I will be, in a few days, but right now it’s just my consciousness.” 

“What about dad?”

“He’s here too, it’s just, this whole soul transference thing is kind of complicated and I didn’t want him to get hurt.” Matt explained. 

“But he’s alive?” 

“Yes, he’s alive, and he’s alright. It’s just, this takes a lot of energy.” Matt stepped towards her and stroked a hand down her face. She didn’t feel it, but she pretended like she did, she pretended that Matt was really here. 

“Where are you guys? Are you still in Galra custody?” She needed to know. Ulaz or Allura would probably know more about this whole soul transfer business and they’d be able to communicate more efficiently. Also, now that Pidge had the lions and Voltron, she could easily track Matt and her dad down and free them from whatever camp they were at. 

“No, we managed to escape. We’re on a little planet called Thial.” 

“Then I’ll come get you!” Pidge said. She’d wake up everyone immediately, there was no time to lose. 

“No, Katie!” 

She paused. “Why not? What aren’t you telling me?” 

He looked around, as if trying to make sure that no one was listening in. “Look, something weird is going on here. You can’t tell anyone. I think Haggar has managed to invade the team’s minds. She’ll track dad and me down if she gets our location.” 

“What? Why would she want to track you guys down? You’re only two people.”

Matt shook his head. “Think about it, you’re the Green Paladin. If she gets us before you can get us, then she can use us against you. I’m not putting you at risk, Katie.”

“But--”

“Dad and I are figuring something else out. The aliens who live on Thial have this sort of transfer thing. That’s part of the reason why I’m here tonight. I’ve been able to kind of get into the Castle before, but it takes a lot of work and effort.”

Pidge nodded. “I understand. Are you sure I can’t even ask Allura about it? Maybe she knows something, or Ulaz! He reads a lot so I’m sure he might know something about this body transfer thing.” 

Matt bit his lip. “I don’t want to risk it. I know I can tell if you are under Haggar’s control because I know you so well, but I don’t want to put you in a position where you might accidentally alert her to our presence.”

Her shoulders slumped. “Yeah, you’re right. I want you here, though. I’m tired of never finding you, of worrying that you’re hurt or worse.” 

Matt held out his arms and did a little twirl. “Well, I’m not hurt or worse, as you can clearly see.” 

Pidge laughed. “Yeah, I guess now that I know you’re alive, I can stop worrying as much.” 

“I’ll come visit, every night, just to keep the soul connection, I promise.” 

Pidge nodded and watched as Matt seemed to disappear completely. A tear fell from her eye and she scrubbed it away. It felt so much emptier here without him and she already missed him. It was hard to believe that she was able to function for that year he was missing. 

“Just a little longer,” she whispered to herself. “Just a little longer and I can see them both again.” 

oOoOoOo

Shiro knew that he worried easily and often, it was a side effect of PTSD that he no doubt had. Every shadow was an enemy, every bump in the night was an attacker, every time he closed his eyes he was vulnerable to torture. So, when he did start to get anxious over things, he tried to rationalize it in his head about why such a thing was improbable or impossible. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.

Still, there was something… wrong about the ship and the people in it. They all seemed the same, actually, they all seemed to be much happier, (except for Thace who, he was convinced, was in a perpetual state of grumpiness) but there was something wrong here. And it bothered him that he couldn’t put his finger on it. 

So, he decided to try and figure out what was wrong with Keith first and then use that information to figure out what was wrong with everyone else. He knew him the best so he knew his tells and what to say to get him to confess. 

“Ulaz,” Pidge said, shaking Shiro out of his thoughts, “have you ever heard of a planet called Thial?” 

“Yes, I have. Why?” 

She shrugged and shoveled more food goo into her mouth. “It came up last night when I was coding.” 

Shiro sighed. “Pidge, you need to get some sleep. It’s not good for you to stay up all night.” 

“Like you’re not.” She snapped. 

Shiro was taken aback. She had never snapped at him like that before. The rest of the table had gone quiet. “Um, yeah, I know. I also know that I suffer because of it.”

“Don’t pretend like you care about searching for my family when you abandoned your own.” She snarled.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Thace said, stepping in. “Everyone finish up, we need to run some drills.” 

Everyone grumbled but finished their food goo and filed out. 

“I need to get somethings done in the Med Bay,” Ulaz said, excusing himself and leaving only Shiro and Thace behind. 

“Something’s going on with them,” Shiro said. 

“I think Pidge is just frustrated that she hasn’t made any forward progress in finding her family,” Thace assured him. 

“No, it’s something more. Something’s wrong.”

Thace sighed. “Well, if you come up with anything, let me know so I can help. I’m sorry, Shiro, but I don’t feel it.”


	2. Keith, son of Krolia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how I feel about Season 8. So I'm going to ignore it until I'm ready to rewatch it and come up with my opinions.

Keith collapsed face first in his bed, grateful for the day to be over. It wasn’t just Thace’s relentless training schedule that had him tired, but also Shiro. The man was constantly trying to corner and talk to him, but Keith couldn’t let that happen. Shiro would be able to tell if he was lying in an instant and then it would all be over. He had to stay strong, just a few more quintants and he’s be able to tell Shiro everything. 

He did worry what would happen when Shiro met his mom. He always got a hard look in his eye whenever she was mentioned and it was clear that he did not think highly of her. But they would have to get along. She was Keith’s mother and he wasn’t going to lose her again. 

He groaned but rolled off the bed and went to lock the door. It wouldn’t be good if Shiro walked in and found out. It could put them all in danger.   
As soon as the lock clicked, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He was tense, then relaxed. 

“Hi mom,” he turned to face his mother. She wasn’t a clear image, apparently she was having a hard time getting through the castle’s defenses, but she was definitely his mother. He remembered the marks going down her cheeks, her hair, her eyes, her skin. 

“Keith, I’m so glad you’re still alright. I worry about you training so hard,” she said. Her voice was also difficult to make out. He could understand the words, but the accent and tone seemed to shift and change. It was weird, but he also didn’t know very much about this form of communication. 

“It’s not that hard. Thace makes sure we’re not pushing ourselves too much.” Despite his protests, he was pleased that she was not only worried about him, but had also picked up on the fact that he was training hard. 

“Still, everytime I see you I hate myself for losing you.” She wasn’t really there, but he felt like she was, he felt like she was actually in the room with him.

“It’s not your fault. They attacked and we got separated.” 

“Still.” She clenched her fist, her eyes burning with anger. She took a deep breath and smiled at him. “Still, I wish I had found you sooner.” 

“You did find me. That’s why we’re talking now.” 

“It took too long. I’m so proud of you, though. You’re the Red Paladin of Voltron, that’s quite an accomplishment.” 

He blushed. “Mom, stop it.” He hoped she didn’t stop. Shiro said he was proud of him too, but it wasn’t the same. 

“No, let your mother brag about you for a bit. You’re a damn good pilot, great with a sword, and you’ve managed to cause quite a problem for the Empire. What more could a mother want?” 

Keith smiled, the warm feeling in his chest growing. 

He felt her hands as she turned his face to look at her. “You know I never stopped searching for you, right?” 

“I thought you couldn’t--”

“Keith, I never stopped looking for you and I never abandoned you. I would have gone to the ends of the universe to find you. You understand this, correct?” 

He nodded. 

“Good. I am so close to being here physically. You’ve been such a great help.” 

“I haven’t done anything.” 

Her hands slipped off his face and he felt so cold without them. “No, you have done something. I was able to find this place through our link as mother and son. And you’ve been an anchor for me so that I could find this place again and again.” 

“Yeah, I guess that’s true.” 

“It is true.” The earnestness in her voice was hard to argue with. 

He decided to try and hug her. She was his mother, it should be great and everything that he ever wanted.

She pushed him away before he could. “I have to go, son. I might need you to do some more things for me to make sure that I can get here in one piece.” 

He felt a flash of hurt shoot through his body. His mother… rejected his hug? What had he done wrong? He knew that they were practically strangers after all these years, but still. 

She put her hands on his face again. “Goodbye, Keith, and be prepared. I want to be able to properly hold you again.” 

She disappeared and left him alone in his room once again. 

There was a banging on the door that caused him to jump. “Keith! Open up, I really need to talk to you.” 

Keith cursed under his breath. If Shiro came in now, he’d probably spill everything to him, which wouldn’t be good. But if Keith stayed in here without answering, Shiro would probably get worried. 

“Keith, I literally have a cybernetic hand that can burn through metal. I will get this door open.” 

He groaned and rolled off the bed. “What?” 

Shiro was standing outside, looking tired and irritated. “Why do you have your door locked?” 

“Because I don’t want Lance to come in and draw on my face.” It wasn’t a lie. Lance had done it before in something called a permanent marker, which was misleading because the ink eventually did wash off. 

“Then why have you been avoiding me all day?” 

“I haven’t been avoiding you.” He turned to walk back into his room only to have Shiro’s hand on his shoulder, pulling him back.

“Yes, you have. What’s going on?”

“I don’t have to be with you every minute of every day!” He shouted. He regretted the look of hurt that flashed through Shiro’s eyes. He crossed his arms and decided to tell Shiro at least a bit, if only to make him feel better. “Look, it’s about my mom. And I know you don’t like her so--”

“It doesn’t matter if I like her or not, I don’t want you to shut yourself off from me if you need help.” Shiro’s eyes were soft and he pulled Keith into a hug. “I’m sorry if I made you feel like you couldn’t talk to me about things.” 

He sighed and felt himself enveloped in the hug, it reminded him of the one he hadn’t gotten earlier. “Look, sometimes I just start thinking about her. There’s nothing you can really do to help. It just happens.” 

Shiro let him go and studied him. “Are you sure? If there is anything else you need or want to talk about, I am here.” 

He really wanted to tell Shiro what was going on, maybe he could help. But his mom was clear, the Empire was listening in and the less people who knew she was alive the better. This was especially true in Shiro’s case since they still weren’t really sure the extent in which Haggar had done things to him. 

“I’m sorry, Shiro. There’s nothing you can do right now.” 

He didn’t seem satisfied with the answer, but nodded and clapped him on the shoulder. “Okay, I trust you.” 

Keith felt another stab of guilt go through him. Shiro didn’t like his mother, so he was going to be pissed when she showed up on the ship. They would work through it, though. They would have to work through it. She would explain everything to him and then they could actually be together as a family. 

The door closed, leaving Keith isolated once again.

oOoOoOo

The talk with Keith did not make Shiro feel better about the situation. He was still hiding something from him and he didn’t know how he was going to get him to open up.

“Did you figure anything out?” Thace asked, hidden in the shadows. 

“Gah! Don’t hide like that.” Shiro jumped back, clutching his hand to his chest. “And no, I didn’t. He just said he was thinking about his mother.” 

Thace looked at the door that led to Keith’s room. “Ulaz has also been distant from me the last few quintants. It could just be that they’re starting to feel a bit homesick. It happens.”

They couldn’t have this conversation here, not when they were right in the sleeping quarters and anyone could listen in on them. So Shiro started walking towards the training deck. Thace followed. 

“And all of them decided to get homesick at once?” 

“I’m not sure how humans work.” Thace shrugged. “Maybe they can affect each other’s mood.” 

“I mean, I guess, it can kind of work where everyone feeds off each other.” Shiro didn’t think his home life was necessarily a good thing to compare normal humans to, but he did notice that when one parent was tense, the other often was tense as well and the entire house became a minefield. It was possible that, being kids, they were all homesick and starting to feed off of it. 

“Then why aren’t we homesick or suffering from it as well?” Shiro asked himself. 

“Perhaps it is because our family life is different from theirs. I have no desire to go back to my parents, they weren’t a great part of my childhood. And while I love my brother and do miss him, I also don’t want to see him due to his alliance with Zarkon.” 

It made sense, and while Shiro did miss Earth, he didn’t necessarily miss anyone on it, being very isolated and alone while he was there. 

“We can’t have them falling into melancholy, though. Pidge is hardly sleeping, Keith is getting defensive, Lance isn’t paying attention, and Hunk is starting to get snappy at people. Even Allura and Coran aren’t paying attention to what they’re doing.” 

Thace was quiet. “Perhaps instead of helping Keith first, you should attempt to help Lance, if it truly is homesickness.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Lance seems to be more susceptible to it than the others.” He would have to figure out a plan of action. He didn’t know Lance as well and saying the wrong thing might cause even more problems. 

“I’ll also ease up on them tomorrow for training. Perhaps you can watch one of those movies the menace has on her computer.”

Shiro laughed. “You’re actually giving us a rest day that wasn’t scheduled months in advanced.” 

Thace’s mouth twitched into the barest hints of a smile. “I’m not a monster, Shiro. I know when breaks are needed. Also, having a good mental state is the most important thing in training. I’m sure they’ll snap out of it eventually, but let’s try and speed this along. Also, you need to sleep as well. Goodnight.” 

Shiro waved to him as he left the training deck. He didn’t feel at ease about the situation. His gut still curled with the feeling that something wasn’t right here. It was suffocating him, feeling almost like a cloud of smoke had descended upon the castle but no one was doing anything about it. Maybe he was more susceptible to the melancholy mood than he thought, but his manifestation of it was paranoia. 

He turned to go to bed and started heading down there, but he stopped, turned, and went to the Green Lion’s hangar instead. He peaked in. Pidge was there, asleep at her laptop. He’d put her to bed and then go himself. 

As he got closer, he heard her muttering. 

“Matt,” she said, so quiet he almost couldn’t hear her. 

“We’ll find them, Pidge,” he said, lifting her up and carrying her to bed. The feeling of paranoia didn’t dissipate. He would try and talk to Lance, but he also wasn’t convinced about Thace’s theory.


	3. Lance McClain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me before writing this chapter: My Spanish is pretty good. 
> 
> Me after writing this chapter: I apologize to any Spanish speakers, I know not the weight of my sins. 
> 
> (Also, I know next to nothing about K-Pop, is BTS still big?)

“And then I totally shot the evil clone in the face!” Lance said, finishing up his story.

Veronica laughed and clapped her hands. “That’s awesome! I knew you were going to do cool things when you got to the Garrison.” 

Oh, it was so nice talking to Veronica over the past few nights. When she first appeared, Lance had been very skeptical, after all, it was a little convenient that his sister have some sort of soul bond transference thing going on. But, she explained to him that the Blue Lion had been working on a way to get his family to see him, if only for a day. 

“Yeah, you should have seen me training today. The Garrison’s drill have nothing on Thace’s. But I rocked it.” He grinned as Veronica continued to listen with rapt attention. 

“You know,” she said, ruffling his hair and pulling him close. He missed her hugs so much, “I was a little worried. I mean, what are you supposed to do when a giant blue lion appears in your bedroom, grabs you and yanks your soul out into space.” 

“Sorry about that, Blue can get a bit excited.” Lance rubbed the back of his neck. When he was younger he used to hate how affectionate his family was. His mother would kiss his cheek every chance she got, his sister, when she wasn’t terrorizing him, would hug him and embarrass him, his grandparents would give him stupid nicknames. What he wouldn’t give to have that now.

Veronica sighed, looking a bit sad. 

“What is it?” Lance asked. 

“It’s just, it’s not the same, hugging you through the soul transfer.” 

“Yeah, I agree. Don’t get me wrong, these past few days have been great, but I miss you a lot. Sometimes too much.” 

“No, you don’t miss me too much. I’d actually be a bit worried if you didn’t miss me more. Hey, are you doing that skin care routine I taught you?” 

He brightened up. This was how he knew that it was the real Veronica and not some Haggar look-alike, she knew everything about him. “Yep, well, as best as I can manage since everything is in alien letters.”

“Give me a list of what you want.” Veronica said, smiling at him. 

“Um, you don’t have to do that for me, you guys coming here for a bit is more than enough.” 

She slapped his arm playfully. “No it’s not. Come on, savior of the universe, give me a list.” 

“Um, I guess just a nice mask or something.” 

Veronica scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Abuela’s going with her friends to South Korea tomorrow, I’ll tell her to pick you up one of everything while she’s there.” 

“Why’s she going to South Korea?” His grandmother was not one to travel so to go to South Korea was a bit hard to believe. 

“I dunno. I think Tia Sofia wanted to go. She’s gotten weirdly into K-Pop recently.”

“What, like BTS?” Lance asked. 

“Is that the only one you know?” 

“Um, yeah? Clara was writing self-insert fanfic with them before I left so--”

Veronica slapped his arm. “De verdad? Leíste su diario? Eso es malo.” 

“Oh, shut up, like you haven’t.” 

“Sorry, kid, the last time I read her diary, she was writing One Direction self insert fanfics.”

Lance hung his head. “Zayn’s departure hurt us all.” 

Veronica surprised him with another bear hug. “Oh, I miss you so much. I know we had our rough patches, but you really are a great brother.” 

“Thanks, you’re a great sister.” 

“Well, when this great sister comes, she’s going to be bringing a boatload of hugs and kisses. Hey,” she got a mischievous glint in her eye, “does anyone know what we used to call you?”  
Lance groaned and buried his head in his hands. “Don’t tell anyone about that! Keith would never let me live it down. Pidge wouldn’t either, if we’re being honest.” 

She bumped his shoulder again. “Alright, alright. I won’t call you tiburoncito. But it’s not like any of them will actually understand it.” 

“You are coming, right? You’ll actually come here?” He didn’t know why, but he was suddenly filled with doubt. Veronica had been very cryptic about what it would actually take to get her on the ship and he was desperate for more information. 

“I definitely am.” She smiled at him. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to ask Allura about this? She knows more about the lions than I do.”

“No,” Veronica cut him off. “Sorry, Lance, but I don’t want you trusting anyone too much. You never know what Haggar might be planning.” 

“But their my friends. If I can’t trust them, who can I trust?” 

“I’m your family. You should trust me more.” She stood up and walked to the corner of the room. “Maybe this was a mistake to try and come here.” 

Fear shot through him. “No!” He jumped up and went over to her. He couldn’t lose his family, not when he was trying so hard to protect them. “No, I do trust you. I just want to make sure that nothing happens to you guys when you’re coming here.”

Veronica sighed and started to disappear. “I hope you’re telling the truth.” She said, fading completely before he even had the chance to say goodbye. The room was now empty and hum of the engines was so loud it hurt his head.

He stumbled over to the bed. With Veronica’s nightly visits he was getting less and less sleep. It was hard to concentrate and harder to get through the day. But he would manage. He had to manage. A little sleep deprivation never killed anyone.

oOoOoOo

Shiro walked into the dining room to find Thace brooding over his bowl of food goo. 

“What happened?” 

“Ulaz stayed in his lab all night.” 

Shiro frowned. “I thought that wasn’t out of the ordinary?”

“It’s not, normally,” Thace hissed. “However, usually if I go up there and sit with him, he’ll eventually come to bed, but last night he kicked me out.” 

Oh great, on top of this weird homesickness bug that was going around, Shiro now had to deal with marital issues. 

“People get into arguments. It happens,” Shiro said weakly. He was way out of his element here. He had never had a relationship so who was he to give middle-of-the-road vague advice. 

“I know, but still.”

“Also, if everyone is feeling just a little homesick, he could just be more testy all around.” 

Before Thace could answer, the rest of the group shuffled in. Shiro almost gasped at the state of them. They all had dark circles under their eyes, as if all of them had been up the entire night. He knew Pidge had fallen asleep, but how long had she stayed asleep. And Lance and Hunk were surprising, they hardly ever stayed up late so to see them stumbling in as well, it was worrying to say the least. 

Ulaz didn’t even acknowledge Thace as he filled a bowl full of goo and sat down as far away from him as possible. Keith also didn’t sit anywhere near Shiro and Allura and Coran were on opposite sides of the table instead of together. 

Shiro and Thace exchanged a look. Whatever was happening, it was getting out of hand and they had to figure out soon. 

Thace stood up. “Today is a rest day. You all are looking ill and I want you to rest. Keith, that means no training.” 

Keith didn’t argue but crossed his arms and slumped down in the seat, glaring at the food goo. 

No one else said anything. Shiro was expecting cheers, or suggestions on movies they could watch or requests on planets they could visit, but there was nothing, just a crushing silence.  
Thace looked at him and he shrugged. “Alright then,” he said reluctantly. “Today’s a free day, do as you please.” 

Everyone silently stared at their food goo, not eating a single bite. 

“Um, Hunk, maybe you could make us all breakfast, since you have the time?” Shiro suggested. 

“No, I’ve got other things to do.” He stood up and walked out. 

“Yeah, me too.” Lance followed him. 

“I’m busy as well.” Allura went out after them. 

Coran, Keith, Pidge, and Ulaz left in a similar fashion, leaving untouched bowls of food on the table. 

Thace sat back down. “I believe you, Shiro. Something is going on. This isn’t normal.” 

“Could it be some kind of sickness?” he asked. Maybe they had space flu or something.

“Nothing I’ve ever heard of. I’d ask Ulaz but I don’t think he wants to talk to me yet.”

“Jeez, how bad was the argument?” Shiro had thought that it was just them getting snappy at each other, but if Thace was refusing to ask Ulaz about a potential illness. 

“It was pretty bad. I was afraid we would wake up the Castle with our shouting. I’m worried.” He bowed his head. “The last time we argued like that, he ended up in Empire custody and was tortured.” 

Shiro put and hand on his shoulder. “He’s not undercover now so he’s not going to get hurt. None of them are. I’ll talk to Lance and see if something is going on.” 

Thace did not seem comforted at all. There was nothing more at the moment that he could do for Thace, so he left to go find Lance. 

He was sitting in the bridge, looking at the galaxies swirl by on the hologram that Coran sometimes had up. Shiro recognized the Milky Way. Well, that was one point in favor for the homesickness theory. 

“Hey, bud,” Shiro said, trying to be as cheerful as possible. 

“Not now, Shiro,” Lance said. He sounded tired and it surprised him. Lance was usually one who would, even if he didn’t want to talk, at least make an attempt to be cheerful.

“I’m seeing how you’re holding up. I know you’ve had a rough couple of months.” 

Lance got to his feet and turned to him. “Do you not know what the phrase ‘not now’ means?” 

Shiro was taken aback. “Um, yeah, but I’m--”

“No, whatever you’re going to say, no, you’re not. You’re pretending and I’m sick of it. Just leave me alone.” 

“I’m not pretending,” Shiro stepped into the room and next to Lance. “I am worried about you. You barely ate this morning and it looks like you haven’t slept in weeks. What is going on? I can’t help you if I don’t know.” 

“Maybe I don’t want you to know!” He shouted, his voice bouncing off the walls. “I deserve my privacy, Shiro. You don’t have to know everything that goes on in my life. If I say I want to be alone, then you should respect that and not push.” There were tears in his eyes and his voice was catching. 

Shiro didn’t know what to do. On one hand, Lance was right, he did deserve privacy and to work through his issues at his own pace. On the other hand, if it was something that was really bad then Shiro respecting Lance’s wishes could lead to him getting hurt. 

“Get. Out.” His voice was quiet and shaking. 

“Lance,” 

“Get out! I don’t want you here. You’ll ruin everything!” 

Things were going south fast. Shiro stepped out of the room and let the door close behind him. His fears were confirmed. Something was wrong. He had to find Thace and figure out their next step.


	4. Hunk Garret

Hunk’s mother and father were able to join them today and he was over the moon. 

“See, I told you I could get them here,” his sister, Victoria stated, spreading her arms as if she were presenting the greatest gift in the world. And it was. 

“Mom, dad! I missed you so much.” Hunk hugged them both. It was hard to believe that they were both here but they were. Victoria had been telling the truth. 

“Yes, Victoria explained the situation to us,” his mother said, smiling and hugging him tight again. “I was a little skeptical, but it is so good to see you alive. I was so worried.” 

“We all were.” His father hung his head. “When you disappeared, we thought we had lost you forever.” 

“I’m so sorry. It wasn’t planned. I never meant to be gone for so long.” 

Victoria clenched her fist. “I knew that Garrison was bad news. You should have never gone there.” 

“Yeah, I know. I’m glad I went, though. I want to help protect the universe. Mom, dad, you guys taught me to stand up for what’s right and to help those who can’t help themselves. That’s what I’m doing now.”

“And we are proud of you.” His dad said. 

“Hey, Hunk, how about you take us on a tour of the Castle?” Victoria suggested. 

Hunk brightened. “Yeah, that’s a great idea! I can’t wait to show you everything.” He paused at the door. “What if someone sees us?”

Victoria pushed him out the door and into the hallway. “Don’t worry. They won’t.” 

It was comforting to have his sister here. He knew he had anxiety but sometimes, it was hard to pull him out of his fear and into a logical state. Victoria would tell him if he was making a big deal out of something. He had learned through the years that if she wasn’t worried, then he shouldn’t worry. 

They wandered around the Castle for almost an hour, his parents taking notice of the strangest things. 

“What’s this?” His father asked, inspecting an airlock. 

“Oh, that’s an airlock.” 

“How does it work?” His mother asked. 

“Oh, um like this?” Hunk pushed the button and the door opened. A few seconds later the door closed again. 

“How fascinating,” his dad said. 

“I guess.” They had never been on a spaceship before so it was easy to believe that they were truly fascinated by everything. 

They passed by the med bay, and Ulaz was inside. Hunk and his family ducked behind the wall and he peaked in. 

“What is he doing?” he wondered aloud. Ulaz was pacing around his lab, mixing all sorts of chemicals together and putting them in syringes. He was talking to himself quietly, laughing every once in awhile. 

“Come on, Hunk, before he notices us,” Victoria pulled him away from the door and back down the hall. 

He showed them the Yellow Lion’s hangar next. 

“Wow, are they all this big?” HIs mom gasped.

“Green and Red are small, but not by much. They’re still huge,” Hunk explained. “I make up the leg, along with Lance, and Shiro’s the head, so we all have bigger lions. Keith and Pidge are the arms.” 

“You could get hurt falling off that thing,” his father mused. 

“Yeah, but we’re not on top of them, we’re inside them. Is there anything else you guys wanted to see?” Hunk asked. 

“No,” Victoria said. “But I promise you, we’re coming soon.” 

“How soon? I want to cook you guys something special so if we need any ingredients, I need to know now.” 

His father let out that familiar booming laugh and clapped him on the shoulder. “In a few days, son. I promise. Now, get back to your room. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Hunk nodded and smiled as they disappeared. It was cold now, empty and dark. He didn’t know how he could get so used to them so quickly, but he was glad they were coming. He didn’t want to feel so alone anymore. 

oOoOoOo

Thace let out a disappointed sigh as the paladins failed the third training sequence in a row. Everyone in this castle was distracted, tired, and worn down. They weren’t eating, they weren’t sleeping, and now they couldn’t even do the simplest of training sequences. 

“End training sequence,” he said. The gladiators all disappeared. “Everyone go get something to eat and then go to bed. You all need to rest.” 

Everyone grumbled and shuffled by him, leaving only Shior in the room. When Shiro had first come to him with this idea that something bad was happening, Thace had dismissed it. People got sad, that’s what happened when they were taken away from everything they knew and forced to fight in a war. However, as the quintants had gone on, the problems were starting to stack up. 

“Did you get anywhere with Ulaz yesterday?” Shiro asked. 

“No, he refuses to be in the same room as me. How about Lance?” 

“Same. I tried to talk to him and he just about threw me out of the room. I think he was two seconds away from punching me.” 

Thace’s shoulders slumped and he leaned against the wall. “Keith hasn’t been putting in vargas in the simulators like he used to. Hunk hasn’t cooked anything for over a movement now, no one will talk to each other, no one will eat anything. I’m worried.” 

“Maybe it’s time we outsource this. This isn’t normal, Thace, not even for humans.” 

“I tried to get into contact with the Blades, but I can’t seem to get through.” He explained. 

Shiro frowned. “Is that normal?” 

“Yes. We have a lot of precautions in place and if you don’t know when the channels are going to be open, you have a hard time catching them. Do you have any contacts that might be of any use?” 

Shiro paused. “Johnny No-Thumbs?” 

“We’re not asking Johnny No-Thumbs for advice. He’d sell us out to the empire in a heartbeat if he could.” 

“Sorry, that’s all I got.” Shiro banged his head against the wall. “We’re on our own, the kids look like they’ve been inducted in a cult, and we can’t get them to talk to us.”

“Cult?” 

“Like a fanatic religious organization. The only thing is that we haven’t had regular contact with any cults so I doubt they’ve actually been inducted.” 

They were silent. Thace was trying to think of some way to get through to the group. Ulaz didn’t want to be anywhere near him, so he wouldn’t be of any help. Shiro had already tried with both Keith and Lance, so maybe if Thace could talk to them. 

“Maybe we’re thinking about this the wrong way.” Shiro said. 

“What do you mean?” 

“We’re approaching this like it’s simply a depressive episode when it’s clearly much larger than that.”

“So what do you suggest?” Thace was desperate for any ideas. What was happening with these kids was not normal and they needed help, even if they didn’t want it. 

“I’ll talk to Keith again,” Shiro said. “He was testy with me before but he still admitted to what he was feeling. He’s also a terrible liar, which is probably why he’s avoiding me, so I won’t figure out what’s going on.” 

“Is that a good idea? You might do more harm than good.” 

“At this point, we don’t have a choice. These kids will die if we don’t do something.” 

It didn’t seem like it would work. It was too simple, there were too many variables. Hell, the kids might not even know what was happening and therefore not be of any help even if they were forthcoming, but they had to try. 

oOoOoOo

“Hey, kiddo, can I come in?” Shiro asked, standing in front of Keith’s (once again) locked door. 

“No.” 

Shiro took a step back and blinked, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Keith was never this short with him. He always made up some excuse as to why Shiro couldn’t come in. Still he had to remain strong. 

When he was in school, the health teacher went over the signs of abuse and how to help friends who were suffering from it. The unit frustrated Shiro to no end because he was suffering from the abuse and no one cared. They ignored the symptoms that were so clearly displayed on the screen. They didn’t talk to him or reassure him. And the teachers who he did tell constantly told him off for lying. Still, he remembered the steps and while he didn’t want to think of any of these kids as being mentally or physically abused, they were starting to show signs and he had to stop it. 

“Look, Keith, I know something has been going on with you and I know you don’t want to talk to me about it. You don’t have to open the door, you just have to listen.” He took a deep breath and waited. The door didn’t open, much to his disappointment. Still, he had to stay strong. “I’m worried about you, so is Thace.” It was good to have a list of people that Keith could count on in an emergency. It would make him feel less isolated and have several escape plans. 

“I know a lot of things have changed recently, we’ve both changed recently, but I’m still your brother and I am still with you one hundred percent.”

“Go away, Shiro. I don’t want to talk right now.” 

Shiro clenched his fist. It would be so easy to break the door down right now and drag Keith out of the room, but he wouldn’t do that. It was an invasion of privacy and it would make whatever was going on worse. 

“We’re not talking. I’m talking, and that’s okay. Just let me say one more thing and I’ll be out of your hair. I love you, kid. And I am here for you whenever you need it. Seriously, Keith, if you want to barge into my room at one in the morning because you can’t sleep, that’s okay. I will listen to whatever you have to say and I won’t judge you for it. I just want you to be happy.” 

Shiro waited, staring at the door with anticipation. Normally, this would be the part where Keith would open up the door, they would hug, he would tell Shiro what was bothering him, and then they’d fix the problem. 

The door stay closed. 

He took another deep breath to swallow his tears and frustrations. Hopefully Keith would mull over his words and then come talk to Shiro. Despite his desire to plant himself outside of Keith’s room and wait for him to come out, he turned and walked to Pidge’s door, knocked, got a similar request to leave, and then gave a similar speech about how she could always count on him. 

He repeated it for everyone’s room, except for Ulaz who Thace was trying to take care of at the moment. No one came out of their rooms. No one acknowledged his words. No one made any progress. They were isolated from one another, and Shiro didn’t know how much longer they could last.


	5. Allura, Daughter of Alfor

When Allura’s mother and father showed up, she was elated once again. She knew Shiro and Thace were worried, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. All of this pain, all of this suffering would be worth it in the end. She’d have her family back. 

“Allura,” her mother said, her voice dripping in disappointment.

Allura stopped where she was and stared up at them. “What? What’s wrong, mother?” 

She shook her head. “IT’s just, I’m not sure you really want us to come to you.” 

“Why not?”

“You’re distracted.” Her father said. “You’re not putting enough effort into getting us here. I agree with your mother, you don’t seem to care about us at all.” 

Her heart dropped to her stomach. “No! I promise you, I swear to you, I am doing everything I can to get you here. I’ve done everything you’ve asked so far.” 

“Today, you were with the humans,” her father pointed out. 

“I had to, though. You said that Haggar was spying on us so if I skipped out on a training session, she’d be suspicious.”

Her mother sighed. “You know what I think about excuses, Allura.” 

“Not only that, but that one human, Shiro, seems very intent on figuring out what’s going on.” 

“He’s just worried. That’s what he does,” Allura protested. Her parents were… disappointed in her? She knew she wasn’t perfect, but she was doing the best she could, especially with the circumstances. 

“We know that you’re doing your best, but I wonder if it’s really enough,” her mother sighed. 

“It is. I promise you it is. I’d do anything for you, you know that.” Tears were starting to streak down her face. After all this work, it still wasn’t good enough. 

“I hope so,” her father said. “There will come a time when you have to do something for us, and I hope you can do it.” 

Her mother tutted. “Now, Alfor, if Allura doesn’t want to see us again, she doesn’t have to do anything.” She turned and stared pointedly at Allura. “However, I do hope our daughter is not so selfish as to deny us a chance to live.” 

Allura was crying harder now. How could her parents say such things? She loved them. She would do anything for them. 

“Allura, quit crying. YOu are not a child. You are a leader and leaders do not cry because someone was critical of them,” Her father spat. 

She nodded and wiped away her tears. They were right, they were always right. “I am willing to do anything for you.” She said with as much conviction as she could muster. “I am not selfish. I love you both dearly and I will do whatever it takes to see you alive again.” 

Her mother and father smiled. 

“That’s what we like to hear, dear.” He kissed her on the forehead before disappearing completely. 

Allura hunched in on herself, wrapping her arms around her stomach and shaking terribly. Her parents were supposed to make her feel happy and loved. Yet, as she had continued talking to them through the quintants, they had become crueler and crueler. Why? Had she really done something so horrible that they could not believe that she would let them die? 

She would prove them wrong. They were probably just scared that this wouldn’t work. That’s why they were being so hard on her. If she just did what they said, they’d be here and then they would be happy. They would be a happy family again. 

oOoOoOo

Shiro stared at the clock on his bedroom wall as the numbers ticked by. It was getting earlier and earlier in the morning. 

There was a knock on the door and he felt a wave of relief crash over him. Finally, someone was willing to talk to him, to let him know what was going on. Disappointment hit him as he opened the door to see Thace standing there, looking tired and worn down. 

“I’m guessing it didn’t work.” He said, stepping into Shiro’s room. 

Shiro squeezed his eyes shut and took a steadying breath. “I thought for sure I had gotten through to Keith. He always tells me what’s wrong, even if it takes a while.” He looked at Thace. “I’m guessing Ulaz still isn’t talking to you.”

Thace sat down on the bed and stared at his hands. “It’s never been this bad before. He’s had periods where he’s refused to talk to me or where he’s having problems, but it’s never been this bad, and I can’t get him to even start to tell me what’s going on.” 

Shiro slumped down next to him. “Keith mentioned it was about his mother on the first night, but I don’t know how he would have gotten into contact with her. I don’t even know if she’s still alive.” 

“There’s been no communications off the ship except for my attempts to contact the Blade. They aren’t communicating with someone outside.” 

“So whatever’s going on is happening solely on the ship.” Shiro mused. “Where have we been the last few movements? Is it possible that something got tracked on the ship?”

Thace furrowed his brow. “If something did get on the ship, don’t you think we’d see evidence of it? Food being eaten, things getting moved around, noises in the vents?” 

Shiro felt ridiculous for what he was about to suggest, but if ships could be sentient robots, then maybe the supernatural existed as well. 

“What if it’s like a spirit or something?” 

Thace laughed bitterly. “You’re not actually suggesting that we’re being haunted?” 

Shiro stood up and began to pace. “They’re not having any contact with anything outside of the ship, it’s difficult to believe that everyone except for us would be suffering from the same mental breakdown especially when things seem to be going better than in the past, there’s no evidence that anything has gotten on the ship, so what else could it be?” 

“I don’t know, Shiro.” He sounded so tired and worn down. 

Shiro felt tired and worn down. He didn’t think that they would have to worry as much now that they were safely on the ship away from the Empire. He and Keith wouldn’t have to worry about food or being attacked by slavers or pirates, they should have been healing. Instead it seemed like everyone was wasting away in front of him. 

“I don’t care what you think. Tomorrow I’m going to the library to try and find some explanation and solution for this. We can’t afford to wait any longer.” 

Thace stood up and made his way to the door. He paused, “I agree. I’ll help you tomorrow. Though I hope it is not a ghost. That’s not really something I want to think about as existing.”


	6. Coran of Altea and Ulaz

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: attempted suicide. Things are heating up.

“How much longer until you guys get to come here?” Coran asked his brothers and sisters. OVer the past few quintants, more and more of them had started to appear, saying they were getting stronger and stronger. 

When he first saw them, it seemed as though it was impossible. But they explained to him that using some complex Altean Alchemy they were able to preserve their bodies so that one day, they may join the fight. 

His eldest brother rolled his eyes. “Coran, we’ve been in a conscious stasis for over ten thousand years. Are you really going to start complaining that this one movement is ‘taking too long’?” 

Coran looked down at his shoes, guilty for his suggestion. For him, the ten thousand years had passed without his notice. He was asleep for the entire time. 

“No, I’m not complaining. I just want to be ready,” He assured them. 

His sister shook her head. “I can’t believe Alfor chose you to stay with Princess Allura while the rest of us were forced to do some experimental preservation.”

“I’m, I’m sorry, I didn’t think--”

“Of course you didn’t think,” his other sister scoffed. “You never think about us. You only ever think about yourself. Do you even want us to be there? Or are you afraid we’ll steal the spotlight from you.” 

“No! Not at all.” He protested. 

“That’s probably why he’s still spending time with Allura and not focusing on us,” his youngest brother said. “He wants to ensure that he’s still her favorite, even going so far as to delay our arrival.” 

“Me being with Allura during the day is delaying your arrival?” Coran gasped. “Why didn’t you say so, I’ve already cut down the time I’m spending with the paladins, I could have cut it down more.”

“No, don’t bother, Coran,” his eldest sister said. “We know that you are trying to make sure that they like you with your stupid jokes and things. You don’t have to worry about us. What’s another ten thousand years.” 

Guilt and shame rose through Coran’s body. He had been doing everything his siblings had askes. Was it still not enough? What more could they want?

“What else do you need?” He was desperate to get his family here with him. It would make the entire war easier to fight. 

“For starters, you need to not get into contact with any of the Paladins until we come,” his oldest brother said.

“Haggar is onto us, so you can’t risk exposing the plan to anyone,” his youngest sister said. 

Coran felt his heart drop. “Are you sure? I swear I haven’t told anyone anything. I’ve tried to act the exact same.” 

“We don’t know how she found out, but she did.” 

His family started fading and disappearing. “Be prepared, Coran. We’ll need your help soon enough.” 

And with that, he was alone again. He looked up at the clock. It was the earlier hours of the morning. These nightly visits with his family were long and he was completely sleep deprived. Still, it was almost over. Once they were all together, he would be able to rid himself of the guilt he had for surviving. They could fight this war and win this war. 

oOoOoOo

Shiro put down another book and groaned. “None of these have what we’re looking for.” 

Thace was over in the corner, scribbling down a list of every single planet that had so much as passed by in the past four movements. “You’re not just looking at ghosts, right?” he said. 

“No, Thace. I’m not an idiot.” He snapped and then immediately regretted. “Ugh, sorry, it’s just that we don’t seem to making any progress.” 

Thace nodded and handed Shiro the list. “I know. I understand and I hate that we seem to have done nothing but give out empty promises.”

“We can’t do anything else though!” Shiro said, flopping back onto a pile of books and groaning as the spines dug into his back. “I’ve tried talking with them, forcing them to talk to me, encouraging them, they won’t tell me what’s going on.” 

There was a hand on his shoulder. “Shiro, please, don’t lose yourself now. We can’t afford to start blaming ourselves.” 

“Yeah, yeah, they are our first priority.” Determination set in his bones. “We’ll figure out what is going on. Something has to be causing this and it has to be somewhere in one of these books.” 

He picked up another one and started reading. 

oOoOoOo

Ulaz stared down at his hands, not wanting to face his mother, brother, or sister. 

“Ulaz, do you understand what we are saying?” his sister, Mismin asked. 

“Yes,” Ulaz whispered. Suddenly, the entire thing seemed too real and was happening too quickly. He wished Thace was here for him to talk to, so that he could ensure that what he was doing was the right thing. But Mismin had been very clear that he was not to discuss this with anyone, even his love. 

“Then why are you hesitating?” Noal asked. “Are you suggesting that you do not wish to see us alive again?” 

“No!” He looked up at the faces of his family. He wished he didn’t. Their eyes were full of disappointment and regret. “No,” he said with more conviction. “I’m willing and ready. I just needed a moment to compose myself.” 

His family nodded. “That’s what we thought,” his mother said. 

“You know what you must do,” Noal said. 

Ulaz stood up and took a deep breath. 

“You love us, right, Ulaz?” Mismin asked. 

“Yes, more than anything.” Ulaz opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. 

“Are you sure? Because if you don’t love us, then you don’t have to do this.” 

“I am.” He entered the command center. He had left his knife in here earlier, accidentally forgetting it in the rush to get back to his lab so that he could talk to his family. 

“Then do it.” 

He picked up the knife, a sense of calm taking over his mind and his body. He turned it in his hands, his fingers skimming the edge, causing small cuts to appear in the pads, blood oozing out. 

“Do it.” 

He poised the knife over his heart and pressed it to his breastbone.

“Do it.”


	7. Shiro

Shiro was standing on some weird plain. Everything around him seemed to glow purple and it was flat as far as the eye could see. 

“What?” He turned around, trying to figure out what was going on. “Where am I?” 

He heard a familiar purr in the back of his mind and turned to see the Black Lion sitting there, staring at him. 

“Black? What’s going on?” He stepped forward and rubbed his hand on her head. She purred softly, nuzzling against it, before standing up and walking away. 

“Hey! Wait.” Shiro ran after her. “Is this about the kids? Is this about what’s affecting them?” 

She turned back to him and blinked slowly, as if to say yes. 

“Do you know what’s going on with them?” 

She stopped at the edge of a cliff. Shiro looked down and gasped. The red, yellow, blue, and green lions were all there, yowling and crashing around as if someone was torturing them. 

Shiro turned to ask the Black Lion what was going on when she pounced on him. 

He cried out as her claws sunk into his flesh and her teeth were bared above his throat.

“Wake up!” 

Shiro let out a cry and fell off the couch he had fallen asleep on. He let out a few gasping breaths and ran his hand through his hair, trying to figure out what had just happened and where he was at. 

There were books piled around him and a blanket was tangled up between his legs. He was in the library, researching what was potentially going on with the group. 

He stood up and looked around. The room was dark and Thace was nowhere to be seen. 

“Was that real?” he asked. 

The Black Lion roared in the back of his mind and he knew that while it may not have been physically real, she was trying to tell him something.

“I’ve got to find the kids,” Shiro said, sprinting out of the library and down the hallways. He passed by the command room and skidded to a stop. Inside was Ulaz. 

He stepped a bit closer. The man seemed to be moving almost in a trance as he picked up the Marmora Blade he had left there earlier. Shiro stepped a bit closer. He was muttering to himself, talking to someone called Mismin. He turned the blade in his hands, cutting his fingers. 

Shiro’s eyes widened as he realized that Ulaz had the blade positioned above his heart.

“Ulaz, no!” He leapt out from behind the pillar and tackled the man to the ground before it had a chance to pierce his skin and kill him. The blade swiped across Shiro’s unarmored arm, leaving a deep cut and blood seeping from the wound. 

“No! You’ll ruin everything, you spy!” Ulaz snarled. He landed a punch on Shiro’s face, sending him sailing across the room and crashing into the wall. 

He didn’t want to fight ULaz like an enemy, but at the moment, he was not a friend. If Shiro didn’t subdue him, he would die. 

He activated his arm, transforming it into a blade and sprinting forward to knock Ulaz’s blade from his hand. Ulaz swiped at him again and Shiro was very glad Thace had been so insistent on hand to hand combat techniques because there was no way he’d win against Ulaz if he only had his skills from fighting other thugs. 

Ulaz swiped his legs out from underneath him, smashing Shiro into the ground. 

“I will not let you ruin my chances to see my family again!” Ulaz lifted him off the ground and threw him into the wall again. 

This wasn’t working. Shiro had to come up with another way to win this fight. He coughed and got to his feet. Ulaz had longer arms and legs than he did, so Shiro was going to go in close and not give Ulaz a chance to use his limbs. 

He charged forward, ducking as Ulaz swiped at him and instead barreling into his midsection, wrapping his arms around him and smashing him to the ground. The impact o the fall made Shiro roll off him. He didn’t have time to lose. He grabbed some restraints that Thace kept in all rooms on the ship, just in case they needed to restrain a hostile intruder, and surged forward again. Ulaz was pushing himself onto his hands and knees but before he could counter, Shiro grabbed his neck and wrapped an arm around his back, tackling him to the ground and putting him in a choke hold. Ulaz clawed at his arm, luckily it was the Galra one and so it didn’t hurt. He managed to cuff one of Ulaz’s hands. 

With a cry, he swung his arm up and around a bannister while his galra arm grabbed Ulaz’s other hand and met the cuff, locking him to the bannister. Shiro rolled out from underneath him and stumbled back. Ulaz was still snarling and struggling against the cuffs, but unless he chewed his own arm off, he wasn’t going anywhere. 

He had to find Thace. He didn’t know what the man would be able to do, but at least Shiro would have someone with him who might be able to calm Ulaz down. 

“Traitor! Spy! I knew you were working for her!” He shouted as Shiro sprinted out of the room. 

His mind was racing with what had just happened. Ulaz had tried to kill himself. And when Shiro tried to stop him, he accused him of spying for Haggar. He had to get to Thace, he had to make sure the rest of the kids were safe. 

He cursed himself for being so stupid. Of course Haggar would have something to do with this thing. Why hadn’t he thought of that before? 

He almost reached the sleeping quarters when his heart once again left his body. There was Lance, swaying in the airlock. 

“Lance!” Shiro shouted, sprinting over to him. “Lance, buddy, hang on, I’ll get you out. Just hold on.” 

He pressed the button to open the door, but it remained closed. 

Lance turned to him, his eyes glazed over. “Shiro, I need to do this. My family needs me.” 

Shiro smashed the button again. Nothing happened. “No, Lance, you don’t have to do this. You want to see your family? We’ll figure out another way.” 

Lance spread his arms. “This is the only way. You wouldn’t understand.” 

Shiro’s eyes widened in horror as the airlock door opened. The vacuum pulling on Lance. 

“No!” In a feat of strength that he did not know where it came from, he ripped the door open, breaking it completely. He lunged forward and grabbed Lance’s arm just as the airlock doors opened completely. 

With his other arm, he grabbed the edge of the door to try and pull them back in. If he could just get to the button, he could close it. The pull of the vacuum was too strong and his fingers were starting to slip from the doorframe. 

“Let me go, Shiro! I want to see my family!” Lance cried. At least he wasn’t clawing at his hand. 

Shiro screamed, trying to pull himself and Lance into the castle, pulling with all his strength. 

His fingers slipped off completely. 

“No!”

A hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. Thace yanked them both back inside the ship and smashed the button, closing the door to the airlock. 

The vacuum stopped and they all landed in a pile. Shiro looked down, relieved that Lance seemed to be out cold. 

“What is going on?” Thace demanded. “What happened to your face?”

Shiro tossed Lance over his shoulder and headed towards the command room. It would be better if they kept them all in one place. 

“I don’t know. I had a dream where the Black Lion was trying to warn me of something. I went to go check on the kids when I saw Ulaz trying to kill himself. When I knocked the knife out of his hands, he attacked me.”

The color from Thace’s face drained. “He did what?” 

“I barely caught Lance before he was almost sucked out to space as well.” 

They got to the command center, where Ulaz had also passed out. 

“Here, do you have cuffs for Lance? Until we know what’s going on we can’t let them roam free.” 

Thace helped him secure Lance to a chair. “We have to find the others. Let’s go to Laz’s lab. He has sedatives that we can give them so they’re easier to secure.” 

They sprinted towards the lab, Shiro gasping when he saw Hunk standing in there, a needle poised over his arm. 

Thace wasted no time leaping into the room and tackling the boy. 

Hunk fought back, punching and kicking Thace. 

Shiro went to help but Thace shouted at him, “The sedatives, find the sedatives!” 

He began rummaging through the draws, his heart pounding in his ears as Thace struggled to subdue Hunk without hurting him. 

Finally, Shiro pulled out a box of sedatives and ran over. Thace grabbed Hunk and spun him around, twisting his head to the side so his neck was bare. Shiro plunged the needle in his neck and the boy went limp. 

They sat, out of breath, looking at him. 

“We have to find the others.” Thace said, standing up and putting Hunk on his back. “Three of them have already tried to kill themselves which means that the others are likely affected as well. 

Shiro nodded and handed Thace half of the sedatives. “Take him back to the control room. I’ll start by looking in the sleeping quarters.” 

“Let me know who you find and where you’ve searched. Time is of the essence.” 

They went their separate ways, Shiro praying to every god and goddess he had ever heard of that they weren’t too late. 

He checked Lance and Hunk’s rooms, just to be sure no one else had snuck in there. He then got to Keith’s door and tried to open it. 

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Come on, kid, why did you lock it?” If he knocked, he could startle Keith and cause the kid to hurt himself or hurry up with his suicide attempt. He’d have to just open it by force and hope that the surprise attack was enough to catch Keith off guard so he could subdue him. 

He dug his fingers into the little gap between the door and the wall and cried out as he ripped the door open. HIs right arm was burning with the work he had to do, but he’d gladly rip off every single limb if it meant that everything would turn out okay. 

Keith was in his room and also had his mother’s knife. 

“Keith, no!” Shiro launched himself forward but he was too late, the knife stabbed into Keith’s left wrist, blood spurting out of the wound. He knocked the knife out of Keith’s hands and tacked him to the ground. 

“No! I need to see her!” he screamed. 

Shiro pulled out a sedative and stuck it in his neck. Keith went limp almost immediately. He wanted to sit back and digest everything that he had seen, but there was a growing puddle of red below him and if he didn’t figure it out soon, Keith was going to die. 

He pulled out a med kit that Ulaz instisted be kept in all rooms and rummaged around. He didn’t want to put Keith in a pod because there was no telling what Haggar had messed with. Finally, he found some Blood Stop and poured it over Keith’s wound. He was relieved to see that it had actually worked and hopefully it would hold until they figured out what was going on. 

“Thace, I got Keith. He’s injured though.”

“Okay, Hunk’s in the command room. I’ll go to the Lion Hangars to see if anyone is there.” 

“I’ll bring him back and then continue looking.” Shiro said. 

He picked up Keith and carried him back to the command room. Everyone was still unconscious and secured to various poles, bannisters, and chairs. Shiro cuffed Keith’s uninjured hand to another chair, not wanting to injure the other one more. 

He sprinted off towards Allura’s room and burst in. Normally, he’d feel weird about entering a person’s room without asking, but now wasn’t the time for propriety. She wasn’t there.

“Thace, Allura, isn’t in her room.” Shiro said, trying to think of where she could possibly go. All of the children had tried to kill themselves, which meant that she had to be somewhere that could hurt her. 

An idea popped into his head. He sprinted towards where the teleduv lenses were being kept. One time, after a particularly brutal battle against Zarkon and his forces, Allura had wormholed them through so many wormholes Shiro couldn’t keep track of where they were any more. Once they were safe, she had collapsed and Ulaz explained that she had overloaded the lenses with her power and if she wasn’t careful in the future, it would happen again. 

Sure enough, she was at the lenses, her hands positioned so they were engaged, the air glowing and cracking around her. 

Shiro wasted no time in tackling her to the ground, ripping her hands from the lenses and pinning her down. He would apologize later. 

Then again, Allura should probably also apologize because she was not going down without a fight. She swept Shiro’s feet out from underneath him and slammed him into the ground so hard he saw stars. 

“I am going home! You can’t stop me.” She snarled and picked him up, throwing him into the wall. 

He had forgotten how strong she was, given that she wasn’t exactly bulky. 

He pulled out the syringe full and ran towards her. Luckily, she was more preoccupied with overloading the lenses than she was with Shiro so he was once again able to get the drop on her and plunge the syringe into her neck. She managed to get one more good punch in, right on Shiro’s nose, breaking it before she dropped to the ground. 

Shiro gasped and tried to stem the bleeding with his hand. 

“Shiro!” Thace said. “Shiro, are you there? Did you find Allura?” 

He sank to the ground next to Allura’s limp body, which was sprawled out on the floor. “Yeah, do you have Pidge and Coran?” 

“Yeah. I found them.” Thace took a shaky inhale and Shiro wondered what state did he find them in. “Come back here. We need to figure out to break this thing.” 

Shiro wanted nothing more than to sleep and forget about this night. But he couldn’t. He had to keep his family safe. 

“Roger. We’re coming.” He rolled to his knees and then with great effort, pushed up to his feet. He put Allura on his back and staggered back to the room. It felt like the night had dragged on for hours, but this nightmare was nowhere close to being done.


	8. Thace

Thace was looking for Pidge everywhere but couldn’t find her, he couldn’t even pick up her scent. He was barely managing to keep everything under control. He had seen a lot in the field, as both an undercover agent and as a regular soldier, nothing could compare to this. 

He cursed himself for letting things get so out of hand, and for not realizing something was going on sooner. Shiro had managed to figure out that something wasn’t right and he needed all the help he could get. Thace pushed the thoughts from his mind. What he did in the past wouldn’t change; he had to focus on the present and future now. First, get all the kids and adults safely secured, then figure out what was happening and why it wasn’t affecting Shiro. 

He still couldn’t find Pidge. 

He paused and stared down at the corridor. He really shouldn’t go that far from Shiro, Laz or the children. There was no telling what might happen. However, he had yet to find Pidge in any of her usual haunts and the only other place she could be was the Green Lion’s hangar. 

He couldn’t wait any longer. He sprinted down the corridor. 

When he got to the hangar, the fear multiplied as his eyes fell on the little green paladin who was standing at the top of the lion, perched on its head. 

He pushed himself forward, trying to calculate the best way to catch Pidge without knocking them both out and risk losing someone. Pidge stepped off the head. 

Thace leapt as high into the air as he could, praying that it would be enough. It was, luckily. He grabbed Pidge mid-air and they both went rolling on the ground. Thace didn’t waste any time trying to reason with the child. He merely plunged the sedative in her neck, causing her to go limp. 

He should stand up and continue searching for Coran. He should go back to the control room and see if Shiro had any ideas as to what was going on. He needed to move and to keep moving until everyone was safe. 

Instead he sat on the floor, Pidge still unconscious in his arms, staring at the green lion. He couldn’t hear or feel the presence of the lions, he wasn’t a pilot, but he did seem to think that the Green Lion had an air of gratitude around it. 

“I’ll figure out what’s going on. I promise.” He took a deep breath and stood up, depositing Pidge with the others and messaging Shiro to let him know that he had found her. All that was left was Coran. 

He searched for the man wherever he could think to look. Unlike Pidge, who was a creature of habit, Coran was more unpredictable. It didn’t help that he knew this castle perhaps better than anyone, even Allura, so there was no telling what small nooks and crannies he could squeeze himself into and have Thace and Shiro be none the wiser. 

He finally did find Coran in a little used part of the castle, surrounded by wires that he had clearly ripped from the wall. His hands were bloody and his nails had been torn from his hands. Thace was about to breathe a sigh of relief, relief that Coran appeared to not be actively trying to kill himself, except his eyes fell on a puddle of water just in front of the man, with several wires sticking into it. Thace knew he wasn't lucky enough to have those wires not be live. 

So he had to somehow manage to get over a rather large puddle that was electrified, tackle Coran, who was currently holding several other live wires in his hand that would likely electrocute them both should Thace fall on him. 

Coran hadn’t spotted him. He was still in a daze and swaying while pulling more wires out from the walls of the castle. Thace shrank back into the shadows and made his way up into the rafters where he was less likely to get shocked. Coran kept muttering to himself, calling out to his family. Still, Thace could see the jerky movements, almost like he was hesitating as he went about his task. 

Thace swung over into the next beam, landing as quietly as possible. Coran did not look up. 

He inched closer until he was directly on top of the man. They were far enough away from the puddle that if Thace were to engage in a bit of a fight, they would be less likely to get electrocuted, but it was still dangerous. 

Coran threw the live wires out of his hand and without hesitating, Thace dropped down directly on top of him, flattening him into the ground. Coran let out a noise of surprise, but Thace quickly injected him with the sedative, rendering him unconscious. 

He slung the man over his shoulder and quickly made his way back to the control room. He hoped everyone wasn’t too badly injured, though Keith and Coran were definitely injured and who knows what other injuries had occurred. 

When Shiro joined him in the control room, Thace gasped. 

“What happened to your face?” It looked worse than before and there was dried blood caked on his nose and chin. His eye was swollen shut. 

“I was pulling punches against Allura; she was not giving me the same courtesy.” Shiro spit some blood onto the ground and chained Allura up. “What happened to Coran?” 

“He was pulling wires out of the walls to try and electrocute himself,” Thace explained. They stood and surveyed the room. Everyone was still unconscious. 

“What do we do now?” Shiro asked. “I’m pretty sure Haggar is behind this, but we have no way of knowing what she did. All of our other ideas have come up with dead ends.” 

Thace went over to the computer and started sending messages out to the blades. “We need help. This is too big to handle on our own. I should have tried harder to get into contact.”

Shiro went over to Keith and examined his injured wrist. “It’s not your fault. I should have pushed harder to get them to talk to me, or locked them all in a room or something. I let things get too far out of hand.” 

“Blaming ourselves won’t help the situation any. We need to figure out what’s going on and fast.”

“All I know is that they all seemed to be under the impression that dying would help their family. Keith wanted to see his mom.” Shiro stood back up and went to join Thace. He could still see Keith’s bloody wrist when he closed his eyes, still hear Lance’s dead voice and still feel Ulaz and Allura’s punches. 

“That might explain why we weren’t affected. I have no desire to see my family, nor do you.” 

“Not even Ila?” Shiro was surprised to hear that. From the way he and Ulaz both talked about him, Thace seemed to love him, even if he didn’t agree with what he was doing. 

“I guess, but I also know exactly where he is. If I wanted to see him again, I could figure out a way to get there. These kids don’t have the same courtesy. And Ulaz, Allura, and Coran’s families are all dead.” 

It made sense. Even if Shiro missed Earth he doubted the image of his mother and father would be enough to convince him to kill himself. “There has to be a way she’s doing this. Haggar isn’t all-powerful, she can’t warp reality however she chooses,” he said.

“Which means that there’s likely some file or object that she’s using to manipulate us.” Thace started typing into the computer. “Good thinking. While Sendak had control of the castle, he might have put in a program to change the castle and cause illusions.”

“And you wouldn’t know about it?” Shiro was skeptical. Thace was Sendak’s second in command. Shouldn’t he know what the man was planning?

“No, not necessarily. Haggar is picky about who she trusts to do things. She can also get into your mind.” 

That, Shiro knew all too well. 

“She may have suspected I was a spy and decided not to trust me on a particular facet of the plan. Or it could have been a backup, just in case we failed. You were never supposed to come face to face with the clone. Everyone’s plans changed the moment you switched.”

“So she could have been scrambling to throw something together last minute.” That sounded reasonable to Shiro. “It could explain why you and I aren’t affected, she didn’t have time to work out all of the kinks and bugs.” 

They were interrupted by a groan. Turning around, Shiro saw Coran’s eyes squeezing shut as he tried to rub his head with the hands that were currently cuffed over his head. 

“What- what’s going on?” He asked, his eyes snapping open once he realized they were chained to the chair. “Shiro? Thace?” his eyes narrowed. “There better be a good explanation for this.”

“There is,” Thace said, holding up his hands and stepping forward. “I’m just not sure if you’re in the state of mind right now to help us.” 

“What do you mean? Tell me what’s going on!” 

“Okay, okay calm down.” Shiro said, afraid that Coran would wake the others and then they’d really have a problem on their hands. “Look, Coran, Haggar’s done something to your guys’s minds. We’re trying to figure out what it is so we can stop it.”

“Awfully convenient that you two are the only ones who don’t seem affected by it.” 

Thace’s face darkened. “Ulaz tried to kill himself. Do you really think I would let anything happen to him?” His voice was deadly quiet, coming out as a low growl that made the hairs on the back of Shiro’s neck stand up. Now that he thought about it, he had never actually seen Thace angry. Frustrated, sure, but not angry. He didn’t want to learn more. 

“He’s right. Keith almost died and you have the gall to suggest that we had something to do with this?” He took a deep breath, hating himself for losing his temper. Now was not the time to be arguing. There was no telling what Haggar had done or the long term consequences of her spell. 

Coran nodded. “No, you’re right. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be blaming you.” 

“It’s okay. Everyone’s been on edge lately. We think it has something to do with the spell.” Thace’s expression softened. 

“How much do you remember about the last movement or so?” Shiro asked. Luckily, Coran didn’t seem to be as testy as he was earlier. Maybe his failure to commit suicide had broken the spell. If that was the case, then problem solved and they could go about their day free from this nightmare. 

Coran furrowed his brows and was silent. “I-I can’t remember. It’s all a bit of a blur, I’m afraid.”

“What’s the last thing you remember clearly?” Thace pushed. 

“Hmm, probably the discussion about siblings that you all had, the one where Ulaz thought Shiro had gone crazy.” 

“That was almost two movements ago. You really don’t remember anything else?” It seemed unlikely to Shiro, then again, stranger things have happened. 

Coran shook his head. I remember time passing, and I remember things happening, but it’s as if I can’t recall anything specific happening.” His eyes widened. “Wait, did you say that Keith almost died and Ulaz tried to kill himself?” He looked around the room and then back at Shiro, seeming to realize the dried blood caked on his face and the bruises that were littering the exposed parts of his body. “What happened?”

“Should we trust him?” Thace asked, handing Shiro a cloth so he could wipe the blood off.

He shrugged. “We don’t really have a choice. You and I hit a wall and the Blade hasn’t answered. We’re on our own.” 

Thace nodded and proceeded to tell Coran about the events of the past week. Coran was impassive, his face schooled into a neutral expression though there were times that Shiro thought he saw his eye or mustache twitch, the only sign that the story was affecting him. 

When Thace finished, he said cheerfully, “I suppose that’s why my fingers sting so much. Thank you, my boy, for ensuring that I did not die a horrible death.” 

“Do you have any idea what could be causing this?” Shiro said, glad that Coran believed them and wasn’t insisting that they were spies for Haggar. 

Coran’s shoulders slumped as best as they could in the position he was in. “I’m afraid I have some ideas, though I hope none of them are correct.”

Shiro and Thace exchanged looks. If Coran did know what was going on, then they could fix it. But, given the thousands of years Zarkon had ruled, it was likely that Haggar had made changes to whatever spell she was using to affect them, and that wasn’t good. 

“Back when the Alteans were still… alive,” he cleared his throat and blinked away tears. “Back when King Alfor and other Alteans were alive and fighting against Zarkon and Haggar, they had managed to push Zarkon’s forces back enough so that the war was almost won.” 

“I thought it was basically a slaughter, there was no “almost defeat” for Zarkon,” Thace said.

“You grew up with Empire supporting parents,” Coran pointed out, “they probably were told that propaganda to make the empire seem even more powerful. Anyways, Alfor had managed to take back most of what Zarkon had conquered, but Haggar wasn’t done yet. She created this… this stone, I believe. Something that would defeat their enemies without so much as a soldier setting foot onto the ships.”

“The stone made people kill themselves,” Shiro said. It seemed like something out of a fantasy novel, except it wasn’t. This was real life and he had seen first-hand that Hagar was truly powerful. 

Coran nodded. “Yes. The stones were innocent looking and easy to smuggle onto ships and into buildings. Once placed there, they would slowly work through a person’s mind until it made them try and kill themselves. They started with hospitals for wounded soldiers. We just thought our PTSD treatments had ceased to work.” He started crying silently now. “It took us so long to figure out what was going on that by time we did, entire planets had offed themselves because of the stone’s influence.” 

“So why weren’t Shiro and I affected?” 

“My understanding is that the stone starts with those who are already struggling and feeling isolated. The more support you have, the less likely you are to resort to drastic measures. You and Shiro, while both have your own mental struggles, aren’t suffering from loss of loved ones.” 

“The children have all been taken from Earth and likely feel isolated, even from each other,” Thace said. “And Ulaz has never really gotten over the deaths of his family. I know he has yet to fully face the truth.” 

“Okay, fine, but I thought Keith wasn’t feeling so isolated anymore. He seemed to be getting along with the others and our relationship hasn’t changed.” 

“Yes it has. Wasn’t he feeling abandoned by you because you’re no longer spending every hour with each other?” Thace pointed out. 

The conversation Keith and him had had what seemed like a lifetime ago, was echoing in Shiro’s mind. 

“When Allura and I went into cryosleep, her father and Altea were all still alive. I don’t think either of us have made time to process and mourn.”

“Okay, so this stone seems like it’s the biggest culprit, which means that we have to find it.” 

Thace nodded. “The clone could have easily smuggled it onto the ship without any of you noticing it, if it’s truly small and works slowly.” 

“Not only that, but the clone wasn’t… nice, to the children most of the time. He was probably doing it on purpose so they would be less steady.” 

The more Shiro heard about this fucking clone, the more he wanted to pull the thing from the jail below and punch him repeatedly.

“Do you have to check on Keith?” Coran asked. 

“What do you mean?” Shiro had checked on him earlier and he seemed to be okay, well, as okay as he could be considering the circumstances.

“If he’s in the cryopod, he’ll probably be getting out soon, and the stone’s influence won’t be gone.” Coran explained. 

“What do you mean--” Shiro turned to where he had put Keith, only to realize that he wasn’t there. He felt his heart plummet from his chest. “I didn’t take off his boots.” He whispered.

“What?” 

But Shiro was already out the door, ignoring Thace’s cals to come back. Keith’s lock picking kit was kept in his boots and because of his injured hand, Shiro didn’t cuff it, which meant that Keith had full range of motion and could have easily slipped out while they were preoccupied with Coran. 

“Shiro,” Thace said through the communicator, “Coran walked me through rebooting the system so we have cameras now. It looks like he’s heading towards one of the lower power levels.”  
He took a sharp turn down one of the hallways and pushed himself harder. He had to get there before Keith did something drastic. 

“Power Level 1, section 4.” Thace said. 

Shiro knew that Keith hadn't been broken out of the trance like Coran did, otherwise he wouldn't have run. He needed to find him before it was too late.


	9. Shiro and Keith

He ran through the door, skidding to a stop to see Keith standing at the edge of the drop, swaying and looking down. Why had the spell worn off of Coran but not off of Keith? That didn’t matter, they would figure it out later. Right now he had to sneak up behind him, and grab him before he jumped. He didn’t have any sedatives now, but as long as he managed to grab Keith before he realized Shiro was there, he’d be able to subdue him. 

He stepped forward and accidently kicked a metal pipe that had been lying on the ground. Keith whipped around. His eyes were bloodshot and dark. He was shaking and his face was pale. 

“What are you doing here?” His voice came out horse, as if he hadn’t drank any water in the past few weeks. 

Shiro cursed silently. Now that Keith knew he was here, he had to think about this carefully. He was too far away to jump at him, so any sudden movements would likely send Keith tumbling over the edge. He would have to talk him down, and hope that the stone’s influence was not as strong as it had been.

“Hey, kiddo, I was looking for you,” Shiro said, sliding forward slightly, slow enough and small enough that Keith wouldn’t notice the decrease in distance. 

“I don’t want to talk to you, right now.” He turned back towards the drop and Shiro took this opportunity to slide forward just a bit more. 

“I know, I know.” God, what could he say? What could he do? Should he try and break the stone’s influence, or just get close enough to grab Keith? Right now, he was definitely trying to do the latter, which mean that he had to be very careful. Keith wasn’t in a good mindset right now and if he said the wrong thing, it could all be over. 

His heart was pounding and he felt tears well up in his eyes. It wasn’t often that Shiro felt helpless, alone, and scared. And it was times like this that made him realize that he hadn’t come very far from the scared child who had run into the desert all those years ago. 

“I know, kid, but I want to help. You know that I am always willing to help you.”

“You can’t, I have to do this on my own.” 

Shiro slid forward another inch. “You don’t. Remember, I’m here. I may not be the smartest guy in the room, but I can definitely help.” Keith was talking to him, and had yet to leap off the edge. Maybe the stone’s influence had weakened over him. Maybe Shiro could break through.

He realized now that Keith was crying. The kid wiped his eyes and shook his head. “No, because you hate her. You’re not going to help me because you hate her.”

He realized now, that while he had never spoken ill about Keith’s mother out-loud, the kid likely caught onto some of Shiro’s emotions. He was sharp like that. 

“I don’t hate her,” even as he said it it sounded weak. “I’ve never met her.” He thought about what he knew about the stone and its effects. Keith wanted to see his mother, he was willing to do anything to see his mother. If Shiro could just play off of that enough, he might be able to get Keith to come back to him. 

“I know you miss her and I know you want to see her, so let’s figure out a way to do that. I couldn’t before, not with the limited resources we had, but now that we’re on the Castle, we can do a better job of looking for her.” 

Keith stared at him. “She said this would work.” 

Another inch or so forward, Keith still didn’t seem to notice. 

“What does she want you to do?” Shiro asked, trying his hardest not to sound terrified, which he was. He was fucking terrified and did not know if he was strong enough or smart enough to be doing this. 

“She says that the aliens are able to get her here, but I have to go meet her.” Keith’s voice cracked and he looked back over the edge.

“Okay, okay. How does she want you to meet her?” He was still too far away to catch Keith is he jumped, but if he moved any faster, Keith might catch onto what he was doing and panic. 

“Down there. I need to go down there. I had to do something else, but you stopped me.” He grabbed his hair and started shaking his head. “Shiro, my head hurts.” 

As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t hug him, not yet. “I know, kiddo. I know, I’m trying to help you. You don’t have to jump down there to see your mother.”

“But she said--and she wouldn’t lie to me.” 

He was so close to Keith now, but still too far away. He could sense that things were changing and prayed that they were changing for the better. 

“She’s your mother, she doesn’t want you to die. She’s done everything she could to keep you alive.” Shiro held out a hand. “Please, Keith, come with me, we’ll figure something else out. Please don’t jump.” 

Keith stared at the hand, wrapping his arms around his torso and curling in on himself. “But, mom…”

“I know you want to see her,” Shiro thought for a moment about what to say next. God, this was like walking through a minefield. “But I’m your brother, right?”  
Keith nodded. 

“Yeah, and I can’t follow you, this only works for you. Right?” 

Another nod and another half an inch forward.

“Okay, so let’s figure out some way to get us both to meet her.” 

Keith looked back at the pit and winced. “She said--”

“Please, kiddo, your mother wouldn’t want you to get hurt. She wants you to survive. Please, come with me and we can figure this out.” 

It almost seemed as though Keith were dragging himself through molasses, his movements were slow as he turned back to Shiro and he stared at him for a very long time. Shiro debated lunging forward at this point and grabbing the kid, he was close enough. However, before he could make a decision, Keith grabbed his hand. 

Shiro wasted no time yanking him forward, smashing him to his chest and stumbling away from the edge, slamming into the wall and sinking to the ground. Keith was shaking and crying and Shiro was crying and shaking as well, squeezing Keith as tightly to him as he could possibly squeeze without crushing the kid. 

“You back with me, kid?” he asked. At this point he was fairly sure that yes, Keith was back to normal, but he couldn’t risk it. Furthermore, he didn’t think that he’d be able to talk everyone out of their trance. Thace could probably get to Ulaz and Coran to Allura, but the other three wouldn’t respond to Shiro, especially if he still had the face of his tormenter after all this time. 

They had to find the stone, there was nothing else they could do. 

“Shiro, I’m sorry.” He wasn’t shaking as bad now, which was a relief. 

“Don’t worry about it. It wouldn’t be a successful month if I didn’t panic about your well-being at least once.” He squeezed Keith one last time and then released him, making sure to keep one hand on his shoulders just in case the kid snapped back into the trance. 

“What happened? I don't’ really remember anything.” 

“I’ll explain on the way back. We need to make sure the others are still alright.” Shiro pulled him to his feet and directed him back to the room, telling him about some of the things that had happened, but leaving out others. He didn’t know if it was selfish or not, to try and protect Keith from this, but he couldn’t help but want to keep him safe. 

When they got back, Shiro was surprised by Thace yanking them both into a tight hug.

“That was very stressful, but you handled it well,” he said. 

Shiro didn’t feel like he had dealt with it well. He should have remembered that Keith kept a lockpick in his boots and removed them. He should have kept an eye on all of the kids instead of getting distracted. He should have noticed sooner that something was going on. 

Thace sat Keith down on a couch and cuffed him again to the chair. “Sorry, until we get the stone, we’re going to be cautious.” 

Keith kicked off his boots and shrugged. “I don’t think I want to sleep after that.” he looked around at the others. “Are they okay?” 

“They’ll be fine once we break the trance. We just have to figure out where the clone could have put the stone,” Coran said. 

“There’s no influence radius, right?” Shiro asked. 

“There is, but it’s very large, much larger than the Castle.” 

“Then that means it can be anywhere on the ship.” Shiro was feeling hopeless again. They could not keep the kids chained up for weeks on end while he and Thace combed through the ship. Not only that, but the stone would begin to influence them as well, if it hadn’t started already. They were running out of time. 

“It could be in Pidge’s room, there are a lot of little trinkets in there that could make it easily blend in,” Coran suggested. 

“Or it could be in one of the engineering levels, where the people rarely go,” Thace said. 

“Or he could have put it in the vents. I know the mice sometimes use them, but there are enough that he could have easily hidden it,” Shiro said. 

“You said that it was a stone, right?” Keith asked, his voice still scratchy and quiet. 

“That’s right, why? Do you think you’ve seen it?” Coran leaned towards him, talking gently. 

He shrugged. “I’m not sure, but when we were at the space mall, the clone got some sort of stone. He said the seller gave it to him for free because she couldn’t sell it, but I don’t know, I always thought it was kind of weird.”

Thace looked thoughtful. “It is possible. Who’s idea was it to go to the space mall?”

“Now that I think about it, I do believe it was the clone’s.” Coran’s eyes narrowed. “He said something about getting some extra technical supplies. This ship is so old that it can be hard to find parts.”

“He was meeting with an agent. Haggar likely felt that it was taking too long to find the red paladin and decided to kill off the entire ship.”

Shiro nodded. “Our ship is still in the hangar. Granted, it’s kind of blown up.” 

“Oh, that won’t matter. The stones are remarkably resilient. As far as I know, there’s no way to destroy them.”

“Great,” Thace massaged his brow. “Then what do we do? If it gets tossed out into space, it might get picked up and affect innocent people. We can’t put it on a planet, there’s no way of ensuring that it’ll never be colonized.” 

“There is a way,” Coran said. “We figured out that if we put the stones in lead boxes, we were able to block out the signal.”

Shiro was over by Keith, one hand on his shoulder and studying the boy. He looked drained and tired, like he could go to sleep at any moment. However, he was still trying to stay awake. 

“Please tell me we have boxes,” Shiro said, looking back at Coran. 

“I believe so.”

“We can’t operate on belief right now,” Thace growled. 

“We’re going to have to, at least until the blade gets here and they’re able to get us some more supplies.” Shiro was not optimistic, but he didn’t voice his concerns. They had a plan and they would enact it. If worse comes to worse, they could put the stone on an uninhabited moon until they got the box, hidden by Blade technology. 

“They should be in the level 3 storage room. They’re relatively small with a picture of a parahi female bird on one side and a balmera on the other.” 

“Alright. I’ll go, Shiro, you stay here and watch the kids.” Thace made to leave the room. 

“That won’t be possible.” Coran said, sounding resigned. “These boxes are incredibly heavy and honestly, I’m not sure the two of you together would be enough to carry it. The lead has to be thick to block the signal.” 

Shiro looked down at Keith, who was still staring at his boots numbly. “We can’t wait for the Blade to come to us.” He said with a lot more conviction than he felt. “We’ve left them alone before when we were gathering everyone up. They won’t be able to get out of the cuffs and the spell has been broken on Keith and Coran, at least temporarily. Plus, the longer we wait, the more likely we are to get influence by the stone and we can’t take that risk.” 

Thace sighed and nodded. “You’re right. We’ll go get the box and take it directly to the ship so that we can put the stone directly in it. Keith, do you remember where the clone put the stone?” 

Keith’s eyes focused just a bit and his brow furrow. “The last time I think I saw it, he had it with him in the cockpit. I think he put it on the dash.” He turned to Shiro. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to bring the stone to the box, since it’s lighter?” 

“Probably not,” Coran said. “It’s been affecting Shiro and Thace as well, though to a much lesser degree. If it senses it’s about to be tossed, it’ll likely pull it’s focus from us to them and make it so that they are more likely to hurt themselves or each other. That’s why you and I are no longer under its spell. Shiro’s right, they have to hurry.”

“Then let’s do this.” He ran a hand through Keith’s hair, frowning when he made no sign that he had recognized that he had been touched. This wasn’t going to go away quickly, but he could focus on that later. Right now, they had to get the stone.


	10. Takashi Shirogane

They entered the room and Shiro started to get the worst migraine in his life. 

“You okay?” Thace asked, searching around the room, examining various boxes.

“Migraine. I think the rock’s starting to panic.” He tried to focus and blink away the pain but it didn’t seem to be working. 

Thace snorted. “It’s funny, it’s almost like it’s sentient.” 

Shiro felt weak since Thace seemed to not be affected as badly. 

“With Haggar behind it, I wouldn’t put it past her to use someone’s mind to create it.” Shiro moved a few dusty boards and saw a large, dull grey box underneath. 

“Hey, Thace, I think I found it.” He moved to examine the two sides. One of them had an inscription of a balmera and the other one looked like a very large and ornate tropical bird. 

“Yep, that seems to be it. Let’s move this thing down to the ship and put the stone in it.” 

They pulled over the dolley, hoping that with the addition of wheels they would be able to maneuver the large and heavy box easier. Once in position, Shiro and Thace bent down, grabbing the handles.

“Ready?” Thace asked. 

Shiro nodded, though his migraine was starting to get worse and he couldn’t help but feel as though he were being watched. It reminded him of his time with his parents, where they were always searching for an excuse to yell at him or punish him in any way. Now that he thought about it, it was almost as if he could hear their whispers as well, maybe even the far off sounds of them arguing over one thing or another. 

“Shiro, focus!” Thace barked, bringing him back to reality. 

“Sorry, the stone’s starting to affect me.” He didn’t know whether or not he should be worried about Thace’s lack of pain from the stone. On one hand, it was good because it meant someone was likely going to keep them on track. On the other hand, though, it struck Shiro as odd that Thace didn’t seem to be the slightest bit uncomfortable by this whole thing. 

“On three: one, two, three!” The box was much heavier than Shiro anticipated. He pulled with all his might, feeling his bones, tendons, and muscles pull and scream as he struggled to lift it even a few inches off the ground. The pieces in his prosthetic were making a worrying grinding noise and it was probably only thanks to the Galra technology that he managed to life the thing at all in the first place. 

Somehow, despite the weight of the thing and the strain on Shiro’s body, he and Thace managed to lift it enough to put it on the dolley. The dolley creaked and groaned under the weight and for a moment, Shiro was afraid the entire thing would break and they’d have to drag the box down to the ship, but it didn’t. 

Thace and Shiro stood panting over it. Thace had a hand on his back and his face was screwed up in pain. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Should have stretched and warmed up before doing that. I’m going to be feeling this tomorrow.” 

Shiro agreed, but the pain couldn’t delay them. There were still several other steps in the process and so he and Thace pushed the box along the corridor. Even though it was on wheels, it was still incredibly difficult. Shiro had seen, once on TV, a strongman competition where men pulled cars and trucks and trains to prove how strong they were. Shiro figured this was about the same thing. Then he wondered if perhaps when this was all over, he should join strongman competitions on Earth. Though, would his arm be considered cheating? 

“Yes. I can’t believe that you are so pathetic as to rely on cheating to get yourself ahead in life.”

Shiro whipped around, his heart rate raising and his breathing becoming erratic. 

“What is it?” Thace asked, still hunched over. 

“I thought I heard my mother,” he said, walking towards one of the rooms. 

“Shiro, it’s just the stone, remember. She’s not really here.” Thace pulled him back to the dolly and Shiro started to push it again. 

Right. Right, the stone was manifesting what was most likely to get the paladins to kill themselves. And even though Shiro hated his mother, it appeared that the stone decided to use her to fuck with him anyways. 

“Are you hearing anything?” He asked, worried about Thace’s mental state. 

Thace grunted. “Yeah. Blocking it out though. Stone knows me well enough to not put Ila with them.” 

Maybe if they focused on something else, it could block the stone long enough to put it in the case. “Ila’s not someone who tortures you? I thought you guys didn’t get along growing up.” 

“It’s not that we didn’t get along. Our parents pitted us against each other. It’s survival of the fittest out there and after what happened to my other two siblings, I think Ila was desperate to survive.” 

“What happened?” Shiro knew about Ila, but he thought Thace only had one sibling, not three. 

“They were killed. It’s not uncommon for galra to kill kits who are deemed too weak to survive. I think they killed my sister when she was a year old and my brother when he was five. Ila was around for both of them, I was just around for my brother, but I was young, I don’t really remember it.” 

Okay, maybe trying to talk to Thace about his family wasn’t the best course of action. It also made Shiro sick to his stomach. It was easy to view the Galra empire as some mass amalgamation of brainwashed soldiers who all accepted and loved Zarkon’s views of the empire. However, now that he got to know Thace, someone who grew up in the empire, he knew that it wasn’t so simple. The galra were likely just as afraid of Zarkon as the rest of the world and were merely trying to survive. 

“Got any stories of Ulaz doing stupid things?” He was desperate to get them to remember the good times. He could still hear his mother and now his father in the back of his head, drowning out Black and the rest of the lions so they could tell him over and over again how awful he was. How he would never amount to anything. How he should be grateful they kept him alive and didn’t kill him like a dog. 

Thace laughed. “Do I? There was this one time a ship was put on autopilot, set to destroy a major resistance capital. Instead of hacking into the system and trying to reroute the ship, what does Laz do? Starts stabbing electrified panels with his metal knife and yanking out live wires by the fistful.” 

“He survived that?” The voices were lessening, and it was easier to focus on the task at hand. 

“Barely. He still has burns up his right arm and thanks to that little stunt, all the Blade’s uniforms now have rubber strips that go to the floor. In fact, come to think of it, most of the uniform changes have been because Ulaz did something.” 

“And they let him continue to be a spy?” They were almost down to the hangar where the burned and tattered remains of Shiro and Keith’s ship lay. 

“I never understood that. He’s smart, but he’s not subtle. He was never good at being discrete or gathering information without getting caught. What about you and Keith? Fun adventures for you two?” 

“It was mostly me trying to keep him alive. I swear, that kid has no preservation instinct, and he wants to fight first and ask questions never.” 

“That’s because you’re a failure. You can’t even raise a kid right,” his dad’s voice hissed in his ear. “You complain about how terrible of parents we were, but did you do much better? It’s thanks to you that he almost died. How many times has he almost died now?” 

Shiro reminded himself to ignore them, that they weren’t really here whispering those things into his ear, but it was getting harder. And really, who’s to say they weren’t on the ship? Shiro had been taken from Earth, why couldn’t they have been taken as well?

Thace’s eyes were also screwed shut and he was muttering under his breath, almost as if he was arguing with an invisible force. THat’s right, the stone was messing with their minds. It knew their weak points and was exploiting them. For Shiro, it was his parents, it was never being good enough for them, never being enough for them. It was his fear of failure, his fear of losing what little he had left. It was his fear that this was all a mistake and he wasn’t really supposed to be here. 

“Why did the lions choose you?” His mother said. 

“Shut up.” He hissed. He could see the burned, hollowed out remains of his ship in front of him. 

“You don’t have Thace’s tactical skills, or Ulaz’s medical skills. You’re not as good of a pilot as Keith, which is pathetic considering he’s a child and you are an adult.” 

His father was standing next to him, shaking his head and glaring, as if Shiro were the scum of the Earth. “You don’t even go by your real name anymore. “Shiro”? What, are you ashamed of your heritage? Do you not want to be thankful that your mother and I brought you into this world and didn’t toss you out with the rest of the trash when we realized you would amount to nothing?” 

His head was splitting open now, hurting so badly that he could barely see straight, could barely walk straight. He tripped over a piece of jagged metal and was aware, distantly, that the piece had punctured his leg and was now bleeding. 

Thace let out a cry and also seemed to be stumbling forward. 

“You aren’t kind like Hunk, or supportive like Lance, or intelligent like Pidge. I mean really, Takashi, a child is smarter than you.” 

He dragged his eyes up to his mother, towering over him, arms crossed and nose wrinkled in disgust. 

“Sorry,” he said. His tongue was heavy in his mouth and he had the vague feeling that he was supposed to be doing something, was supposed to be working towards a goal. He couldn’t, however, for the life of him figure out what that goal was supposed to be. 

“Allura is a powerful and strong leader and Coran is a rock of stability. What do you offer to this group? What can you possibly do that they can’t?” 

“I’m trying. I’m trying as hard as I can.” Tears were gathering in his eyes. Why was it always like this? Why could Shiro do everything right and still be a failure?

“You haven’t done everything right. Didn’t you see Keith’s wrists? DIdn’t you see what he did to himself?” HIs father sneered. “If you were truly doing things ‘right’, you would have recognized something was wrong before it was too late.” 

“Poor, little, Takashi, you really are quite slow. I don’t know why you are trying to survive. You had a perfect excuse as a prisoner and could have just given up. Why do you keep trying to prove yourself? You’ll never be worth anything. Everyone you love will leave you.”

“You may hate us, but in time you’ll learn that we were right all along. You are worthless and you’ll be thankful that we at least tried to put up with you.” 

He heard, distantly, someone screaming and yelling, perhaps the sounds of claws slashing through metal. 

“I’m sorry. I’ll do better. I promise.” 

“It’s too late.” His parents turned from him. “It’s too late and you know it.” 

In his hands was another jagged piece of metal. They were right. It was too late. He should kill himself, make it easier on everyone. He turned the piece of metal in his hands when a photograph slipped from the corner. It was charred and burned, but Shiro still recognized the picture. 

It was him and Keith on some jungle planet populated by giant, gentle sloths. It was the first planet Keith had taken him after their escape. He had asked for someplace with trees and Keith had taken him to a dense jungle planet. A crash from the other side of the ship echoed throughout the room. Shiro looked up to see Thace breathing heavily and a piece of metal lodged into the side of the wall. 

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” His hands were pulling at his hair and he was stumbling around, throwing himself into walls as if to fight off some invisible monster. 

Invisible. 

Right, the rock. Shiro’s parents weren’t really here. They knew nothing about the kids or Thace or Ulaz. They were back on Earth and had to deal with a bitchy clone for several years. 

“Thace?” He was hesitant to touch the man since his claws were fully extended and given how violently Allura and Ulaz had reacted to him trying to intervene, he didn’t want to risk it. 

Thace fell to his knees and let out a cry. 

“Thace, we have to get the stone. Remember, it’s not real.” The brief distraction had helped him clear his head, but his parents were starting to echo again in the back of his head. 

“Remember, we have to get the stone to help the kids and Ulaz.” He tried again. 

Thace remained on his knees, head still clasped in his hands and breathing heavily. “I know. I know. Give me a few ticks.” 

Now that he was no longer freaking out, Shiro walked over and yanked him to his feet. “We don’t have a few ticks. The stone’s getting desperate and if we don’t act soon, we’ll be taken in once again by it.” 

“You’re right. You’re right. I’m sorry.” He followed Shiro through the battered and smashed remains of his ship to the small cockpit. 

The cockpit itself was in a massive state of disrepair with bits and pieces falling from all over the place. Shiro’s leg was really starting to hurt and he was having trouble putting weight on it, but he soldiered forward. He could do some repairs on it later. Right now they needed the rock. 

Thace shifted through the rubble and Shiro followed en suite. 

“I can’t believe you, such a coward that you don’t even want to face us,” his father hissed in his year. 

“Why haven’t you killed yourself yet?” His mother asked. “I know you were planning on it a few times so what’s stopped you?” 

“I know you almost killed yourself before. Shame, that would have been the one good thing you would have done with your life.” 

He forced himself to sift through the rubble and not look around for the voices. They weren’t really there. The jagged pieces of metal, the stuffing from the chair, they were really here. 

His hand moved a large sheet and underneath, almost glowing in the darkness, was a small green stone. He laughed. 

“Thace, I found it. Go get the lid off so I can throw it in there.” He said. 

Thace didn’t even question him, instead sprinting out of the cockpit and back towards the box. Shiro pulled himself to his feet and started limping towards the exit. His parents were screaming in his ear now, screaming the same things they had been screaming since they had first appeared to them. His heart was racing and he feared that the rock would do something truly horrific, like actually grow a body or something and physically attack Shiro. Instead, it just kept screaming. 

Thace had worked his fingers under the heavy lid and was poised to open in. “I can’t keep it open for very long so hurry up and slip it in,” he said.

Shiro nodded and pressed the rock right next to the seam, ready to get it into the box as soon as Thace opened it enough. 

“Ready,” Shiro said. 

Thace let out a roar and pulled the lid up with all his might. The box barely opened an inch, but it was all Shiro needed to slip the rock in. 

He pulled his fingers out. “I got it.” 

Thace let go of the lid and it crashed closed. Almost immediately, Shiro felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest. His migraine almost completely disappeared and it was like he could actually see and comprehend what he was seeing. 

He smiled at Thace, but the smile dropped when he realized the man was holding one arm to his chest.

“What happened?” 

“Muscle tore when I opened the lid. Don’t worry,” he added upon seeing the horrified look on Shiro’s face, “Ulaz will be able to heal it up once he wakes up. Let me grab a med kit so we can fix up your leg.” 

Shiro wanted to say something to him, but couldn’t think of anything appropriate to say. Instead, he sat dutifully as Thace put on some antibiotic cream and then some blood stop. 

“Ulaz will have to look at all of us when this is over.” 

“Yeah, I’m not up on my tetanus shots,” Shiro added. 

“What?” 

“It’s an Earth disease you can get from rusted metal.” 

Thace nodded and finished bandaging up Shiro’s leg before helping it up. “Let’s get back to the others and make sure they’re okay. Hopefully they’ll wake up soon and we can determine if this box actually worked.”

“What are we going to do about the box?” Shiro’s leg still hurt quite a bit and he was having to lean on Thace to keep weight off of it, which he then felt guilty about since Thace’s arm still hadn’t been treated and was probably hurting a lot as well. 

“Probably give it to the Blades. They have lots of bases they can hide it at. Hopefully this is the only one Haggar has on her.” 

“Hopefully.” 

They got back to the room and Coran looked up with relief. 

“Thank goodness,” he said, his shoulders sagging. “You two look worse for wear, but at least you’re alive. And, I’m pretty sure our plan worked. I feel much better and my head is much clearer.”

“That’s good to hear,” Shiro said, sinking down on the couch Keith was on and rubbing the kid’s ankle. 

“Can I have my boots back?” he asked. 

“Not until we’re sure the stone no longer has any affect on you.” Thace said, sinking down on his own chair. “Go to sleep. I’ll stay up and keep watch.”

Shiro was about to argue that he couldn’t possibly put that burden on Thace, but his eyes were slipping closed and he was drifting off into a dreamless sleep without his permission.


	11. Strength in Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, the final chapter (finally posted, so sorry). I have a lot of ideas and plans for this universe and hopefully have the fortitude and the self-motivation to get it all done. A few more one-shots coming up and then another longer fic. Be on the look-out!

Shiro woke up not long afterwards. The castle was set to mimic the twenty-four hour cycle of the Earth (thank you Coran) and it was still dark. 

Thace was still awake, sitting and staring at the room with a blank look in his eyes. 

“How are you doing? Any more voices?” Shiro asked, stretching and moving to try and work out the kinks in his body. 

Thace blinked himself back to awareness and looked at him. “Hmm? Oh, yeah, no, I’m not hearing anything. My head definitely feels clearer than before.” 

“Do you want to sleep? You look like you could use it,” he said. 

“No, my arm’s hurting too much to get some sleep. I’m kind of hoping Ulaz wakes up soon so he can check it out.”

“I can go down to the med bay and see if they have pain killers, at the very least.” He stood up and winced when he remembered there was currently a gaping hole in the side of his leg. 

“You shouldn’t be putting pressure on your injuries. I’ll be fine until we make sure the stone is no longer affecting them.” 

Once again Shiro felt a jolt of guilt shoot through him. Thace had patched up his leg down at the ship and had helped get him back to the room where all the paladins were being kept. Meanwhile, he hadn’t treated any of his injuries, not even taking pain medication to help, and still seemed perfectly content to sit there, in pain, until he made sure everyone was alright. It made Shiro feel weak and useless.

He reminded himself that what he “should” have done was in the past and there was nothing else he could do at the moment. Thace was right, Shiro wouldn’t be able to get all the way down to the med bay and back on his leg. Still, he had to be better, he had to do better if these kids were going to survive this war. 

A beeping noise pulled him from his thoughts. 

Thace cursed and shifted to pull out his communicator. “Yeah?” 

“Lieutenant, thank the stars we’ve managed to get ahold of you.” A voice said. 

“The blade?” Shiro asked. 

Thace nodded. “Yeah, we’ve had a pretty rocky time here--”

“We know. What the Leader wants to know is why you sent us those messages but didn’t respond to ours?” 

Thace furrowed his brow and clumsily scrolled through the screen on his communicator. “I never received any messages back from you. The last communication I have was from almost three movements ago.” 

“The stone probably blocked our means of communication,” Coran said, pushing himself into an upright position. “It was theorized that it could do something like that, but we never had time to prove it.” 

“This is very unnerving. I’m assuming this was a druid attack?” 

“Haggar herself appeared to have designed this experience,” Thace said. 

“Is everyone alive?”

“Yep.”

“Alright, give us your position over the secure channel. The leader and a small team will come to discuss the events and next steps.” 

“Roger that.” 

Thace relayed the information to the Blade and once again Shiro was left staring and wondering what on Earth he could do to help. Thace closed the channel and looked at the sleeping inhabitants of the castle. 

“They’ll be here soon. Hopefully we can put this all behind us. Though, if what Keith said is correct and the clone managed to smuggle it onto the ship, we’ll have to do a full sweep to make sure no other surprises are here.” 

“Yeah.”

Allura made a noise and they looked at her, holding their breath to see if she was still under the influence of the stone. 

“What happened?” She asked. “Ow, my head. Coran?” 

“I’m here, princess.” Coran said. “Don’t panic but we had to put you and the others under for a while.” 

“Put us under?” Allura tugged on her wrists and stared at them. “Oh, what happened? Why am I here?” 

Shiro was thankful that Coran was awake. Had it just been Thace and him, she might have been much less calm about it. Coran explained the situation to her and Allura nodded, staring at her knees. 

“Shiro, I am so sorry for hurting you. I never-” she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders to look at him. “You know that I would never hurt you on purpose, that I’d never attack you when I’m in my right mind, right?” 

He nodded and smiled at her in what he hoped was a reassuring way. “I know. That’s why I tried not to fight back as hard. I didn’t want to hurt you when you weren’t yourself.”

“They were so real.” She whispered.

Thace seemed to be under the impression that she was no longer a danger to herself or others and hobbled over to undo her and Coran’s cuffs, which took a bit since he was only using his one arm. 

“Do you two need a pod?” She asked, standing and stretching her back. 

“Probably, but I want to wait until everyone else is awake.” Thace explained. “Shiro and I were the only two who weren’t affected until the very end.” 

“Be glad that it was only at the very end,” Allura said. “They looked like my parents, and at first they were so kind and loving. Then it got absolutely awful.” She crossed her arms and huddled in on herself. Coran was by her side in an instant, hugging her and whispering kind words into her ear. 

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Thace said. 

“And I’m sorry it took us so long to figure out something was the matter,” Shiro added. “We’re going to do another sweep of the castle and make sure the clane didn’t leave any other ‘presents’ for us to find.” 

“Haggar’s cruelty truly knows no bounds,” Coran said. 

The rest of the kids came to slowly. Shiro and Thace explained the situation to them as best they could, and it broke Shiro’s heart to see each of their expressions as they realized that the people they had been talking to for the past few weeks were little more than illusions. 

“No!” Pidge said, her voice sharp and angry. “No, Matt mentioned a planet. I even looked it up. It exists, he did manage to contact me. I couldn’t have come up with it myself!”   
“What was the name?” Thace asked, wincing as Ulaz gently fixed his arms. 

“Thial.” Pidge crossed her arms and glared at them, daring them to contradict her statement. 

“Thial isn’t a planet, it’s a moon,” Ulaz explained. “It’s one of the only Blade bases that is stationary and easy to get to.” 

“You’ve probably heard one of us mention it at some point,” Thace added. “We often help route supplies through there. It’s essentially a last resort hideout. If anything ever happens and you can’t get ahold of the Blade, you go there.” 

Pidge’s expression fell. Lance wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. 

“But the stone’s gone now, right?” He asked. “I don’t think I can go through that again.” 

“The stone’s in a chest that Coran assures us will block it’s signal.” Thace explained. He leaned his head on Ulaz’s shoulder and allowed him to stroke his ears. 

Shiro stood up, his leg now bandaged properly and set to heal in a few hours. These kids needed rest. 

“Come on, everyone, why don’t we go down to the kitchen and get something to eat.” The stone had taken a toll on their physical and mental health. Getting some food in them would be the first step to fixing this mess. 

“I don’t feel like cooking, Shiro,” Hunk said, though he stood up and stumbled towards the door. 

“You don’t have to,” he said. “Just a little bit of food goo and then we’ll all feel better.” 

Everyone stood up and followed Hunk out the door, leaving only Shiro and Keith alone in the room. There was blood staining the floor and handcuffs and syringes scattered about. The lights were still dim and the whole place seemed haunted. The words of his parents echoed in his head. The problem was that everything they had said to him tonight were things they had said to him in the past. It wasn’t his imagination or the effects of a mental health issue, these were their honest to god words and thoughts that had been hurled at him relentlessly for fourteen years. 

He heard Keith let out a shaky exhale, clearly trying to hold it together, just like Shiro. He couldn’t break down, not yet. Keith had enough problems on his own without Shiro adding his own baggage. They all did. After he made sure everyone was alright, he’d go off on his own for a bit, have a break down, and deal with it by himself. It was the least he could do after the disaster that had been the past few weeks. He steeled his emotions, pushing them as far down as they would go, and turned to Keith. 

“Hey, buddy, how are you doing?” He sat next to him. 

Keith looked so broken and young. Even when he was twelve years old, breaking out of the Galra prison with a spaceship, asking Shiro where he wanted to go, he didn’t look this… small. 

“I want my mom,” he said, tears starting to come down his face as he hunched in further in on himself.

“Oh, oh, kiddo.” Shiro quickly pulled him into a tight hug. 

“I thought she finally came back for me.” He gripped Shiro’s arms, his own body shaking with sobs. 

Shiro didn’t know what to do. In all his years of knowing Keith, this kind of thing, it never happened. Keith never asked for his mother. What Haggar had done was just… it was cruel. Giving Keith, giving all of these kids what they so desperately wanted only to rip it away from them. 

He buried his face in his hair. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” He was going to have to set up the paladin lounge later because none of these kids were going to sleep alone, not after all they had been through in the past few days. 

He didn’t know how he would make it right, but he would.


End file.
